VSSE Blues
by The Rainbow Monocerus
Summary: It's a new day, and along with it, Giorgio receives a new partner much to his dismay. How long will the normally cool-headed Special Operations Agent be able to play nice before he cracks?
1. A New Blue

**A New Blue**

 **[DAY 1]**

Giorgio strode into the chief's office and saluted, back straight.

The chief let out a jolly laugh. "At ease Agent Bruno, please take a seat. I wanted to congratulate you myself."

The brunette raised an eyebrow. "Sir? On what?" He had finished a mission a few days ago, but it had ended as soon as it had started due to its ease for him.

"You are performing so well! Dare I say you are now the top Special Operations Agent in the European Division of the VSSE." He said with the pride of a father.

"Thank you sir." Smiled Giorgio, though cool headed as ever.

"As a present for your achievements, I give you-"

 _Was it a raise? Was it a promotion?_

"A shiny new-"

 _A motorcycle, he knows I like motorcycles._

"Partner." The chief finally finished.

"Say what now." Giorgio said out loud.

"A partner!" The jovial man exclaimed as if it was the best thing in the world. "You've been a lone red for far too long, we've found you the perfect blue!"

Actually, the reason for that was that, if it wasn't him personally scaring them away- it was Giorgio sneaking into the Recruitment and Personnel Office to shred paperwork and delete files regarding future partner recommendations.

Stunned, Giorgio managed to find his adult words in between his expletive ones somehow. "Ha ha ha, I'll take a shiny new electric shaver instead, thanks."

"Oh now, don't be shy! His bright and playful personality goes perfectly to compliment your- well your…"

"My joyfulness and natural charm." Giorgio finished flatly for the other man.

"Ahem... you _are_ to meet with your new _partner_ in your own suite at 13 hundred hours. Oh and by the way, altering personnel files without proper jurisdiction for them is a serious offense, if you catch my meaning Agent Bruno." The chief winked.

"Tsk."

With a cordial exchange of goodbyes done, Giorgio wore a stormy expression which ushered everyone the hell out of his way as he headed to the designated room. Until he bumped into the famously happy duo: Alan and Wesley.

"Hey Gi!" Greeted Alan. "Why so glum, chum?"

"Giorgio." Nodded Wesley with a smile.

"Worst day of my life." Giorgio explained. The other two agents looked worried, before he finished. "Meeting my sadness- I mean my blue today. Blue, sadness, same thing if you really think about it."

"Hey!" Wesley laughed, indignant.

Alan joined in the laughter, before correcting him. "You mean the best day of your life ever, until each proceeding day gets more awesome."

"Aww buddy." His blonde partner said, touched.

The Italian agent rolled his eyes in return. "Hey, you guys are great together. But personally, I don't need some dead weight getting in my way. Think of me as more of a lone wolf."

It was Wesley's turn to roll his eyes. "Wolves are actually social pack anima-"

"Fine. I'm a hermit crab, or a solitary bee. Pick one." Giorgio snarked, cutting off the animal lover.

"Hah! More like a solitary wasp with how much you hate the guy already." Alan commented. "Look-" He continued through Giorgio shooting him a glare. "You've literally never met the poor guy, and you've decided you hate his guts already. All I'm saying is, at least give the guy a chance."

Giorgio sighed. "I don't hate him, I just don't want anything to do with him."

"Hmmm." Wesley hummed with a blank expression. "Not sure if cold indifference is too much better. But Mr Bruno, please at least try." He said as he walked away.

After the paired agents were out of earshot. Alan looked at his partner, surprised. "That was pretty cold at the end there for you buddy. You ok?"

Wesley let out a long sigh. "I just- I know our situation is different to his. But, I just imagine us first becoming partners, and you hating me. Right off the bat, for no reason."

Alan gave his partner a comforting look. Although it was sometimes mistaken as oversensitivity, one of best of Wesley's traits he admired was his empathy. He rubbed a circle on Wesley's back. "After we train the new recruits, drinks on me!"

* * *

 _Oh how I envy Agent Miller._ Thought Giorgio, annoyed. All he had wanted was to simply operate alone like the great himself did. But, instead he felt like a petulant child, thanks to his own friend Wesley no less. It had made it sting more from someone he actually gave a shit about. But if a good friend was siding with this faceless agent rather than him, perhaps he had a point of sorts?

Giorgio reached the entrance of his base suit. Taking a deep breathe, he slowly let it out to at least greet this new intruder of his nest with a calm heart.

The door swung open and maintenance personnel burst out. "Oh shit! He's already here!"

"Bruno's here! Run, run, run!" The squad of four hurriedly squirreled past the confused agent before he could talk to any of them.

He sighed for the umpteenth time today. "That can't be good." And braced himself as he entered the room.

Upon entering, Giorgio proceeded to close the door behind him and heard another set of hurrying footsteps towards him. "Oh? A straggler? What should I _do_ to you that your other little friends have run away fro-" He turned and was met face to face with someone much taller, built, and _happier_ than he was expecting.

"Hi! You must be Giorgio! Nice to meetcha. I'm Evan Bernard." The alabaster blonde beamed.

' _But Mr Bruno, please at least try.'_ He made the slightest smile and held out his hand. "Yes. Special Operations, Giorgio Bruno. Pleased to meet you Evan … Bernard."

"Oui! 'Bernard!' It is said we are a line descended from bears!" He laughed. Blatantly ignoring the outstretched hand, Evan went in for a hug.

Giorgio let out a little gasp as his body went rigid from the contact. _More like descended from teddy bears._ He awkwardly patted Evan on the shoulder. _See Wesley? I'm giving the guy a hug. Praise be to me._ "Come on. Let's get you settled in. Which suite number are you, anyway?" He asked about to open the front door.

"Quatre-vingt-un! 81!"

 _Wait_. Giorgio turned sharply on his heel and strode into his bedroom. It was just as he feared. Those bastardi he saw earlier were running from him because they had taken out his glorious king sized bed to fit two king singles instead. He massaged the crease in between his eyebrows. _Is nothing sacred?_

Evan poked his head into the room. "Oh wow! We're roommates! Nice!"

 _Non Bernard, no it's not._

* * *

 **Authors Note: Haha! I've always wanted to do a 'how they became partners fic' because I love movies like Hot Fuzz and The Other Guys. The duo have clashing personalities which is super fun to write. I'd love to see other people's take on it too!**

 **I'm also working on The Rio Mission fic as well, so don't worry I haven't given up on it... it's just that the setting and scale of the story is pretty big so I need to do a decent amount of research for the chapter writing.**

 **(To Lilium00, spot the shout out lol!)**


	2. Blue Eggs and Ham

**Blue Eggs and Ham**

 **[DAY 3]**

"Pah! Here comes the princess of the European Division." Spat a man with slicked back hair, olive skin and a permanent scowl on his face. He wore a striped collared shirt with its sleeves rolled up and a red tie. Tan coloured slacks covered his legs, and black and white brogue shoes encased his feet. Agent Santiago stood blocking the front of the room's doorway.

Mildly amused, Giorgio answered. "Make yourself scarce then, I don't mingle with peasants."

"I don't like your tone." Snapped Santiago.

"Well, I don't like your disgusting shoes. Tough shit." Giorgio shot back.

"Bah!" The aggressive agent spat and entered the room.

"What's that guy's problem?" Asked Evan. "Do you know him?"

"Barely." Replied Giorgio. "I think... He's the current rank 1 in Spain and rank 3 in Europe."

"Ohhh. What rank are you, your majesty?" The blonde asked playfully.

"I'm the rank 5 in Italy, and the rank 11 in Europe." He answered.

"Woah nice! Maybe that guy feels threatened by you." Exclaimed Evan. "So I need to at least beat 11..." He grinned as he entered the room.

"In your dreams, knave." The brunette replied. Giorgio rested his hands in his pockets, and felt something with his left hand. _Hm?_ He pulled out a wrapped coffee lolly. _Where… are these even coming from? I don't buy candy._ Putting it away, he entered what was essentially a classroom for a lecture on team dynamics newly paired agents were to attend.

"Ladies and Gentleman, some of you may already know me as the resident psychologist. For those who do not, I am Dr Grace Fine- do come to me if you are ever traumatised." Greeted a mousey, smartly dressed woman in glasses. "Ahem. Following the success of pairs which proceeded with what we have dubbed 'warm bonding', we've found greater rates of synergy, mental health, and as an effect of the two- better mission performance." She announced happily.

"Excuse me frau Doktor." Asked a heavily German-accented voice, interested. "How must we do zis thing?"

"Oh! Thank you so much for asking. The terminology is a bit fancy, but all it refers to is fostering 'closeness' to your partner." She excitedly continued. "Compared to pairs which share strictly professional work relationships, warm-bonded pairs are able to easily detect abnormalities in each other's wellbeing, and read micro movements for greater movement flow."

Some agents in the crowd nodded in agreement.

A video projected onto the wall showed a comparison of a cold bonded pair completing a training exercise, with a side by side comparison of a warm bonded pair. _Oh. It's you two._ Thought Giorgio as he recognised Alan and Wesley as the second pair.

The sceptical ones in the crowd of agents changed their tune when the latter pair's movements could be seen to be much more well-coordinated, yet achieved with much less verbal cues somehow. To top it off, they completed the exercise three minutes and fifty two seconds faster.

"There you have it." Said Dr Fine. "Synergy at its finest. At the moment, we are researching extreme cases of bonding, in which we've had agents with what you might call 'intuition' or that 'gut feeling'- claim to detect their partners in an area _without_ any visual or audio signals."

"Oh my god. Ve get psychic powers." A German voice commented loudly.

"No, no n-not exactly, we are still researching what to call it, and how it occurs before we draw solid conclusions-" The doctor explained trying to get people not to focus on the last part exclusively.

However, the room stirred as agents began excitedly chattering almost exclusively on how soon they could unlock awesome mind powers with each other. Evan looked at Giorgio like a child would after seeing a dinosaur- sparkle in his eyes, making the older agent roll his own. _They gave me a kid as a partner, wonderful._

"Now our first activity is a basic for fostering team skills, we would like you to treat it as an important duty. The care and upbringing of your shared… egg!" The doctor exclaimed holding up an egg drawn with glasses and bunned hair like herself. "Now I want you all to have fun together with this! There are craft materials on the back table, and don't forget to agree on a name together for the birth certificates."

 _Could this day get any more stupid?_ Giorgio thought in pain.

Seeing his partner frozen still with a thousand yard stare, Evan volunteered to fetch the supplies for them. "So, what hair colour should we go with?" He asked as he sat back down.

"You know what, you pick everything. I trust in your capable decisions." Said Giorgio. Missing the brief look of disappointment on his partner's face, he surveyed the room, agents discussing cosmetic traits for their eggs, as well as potential names.

A Norwegian voice to his right asked. "How about Eggbert, yes?"

"Wunderbar!" Günter shouted. "Das a strong name, good thinking Sven.

"Wow, you guys are taking this very seriously. Even though it's sort of..." Giorgio trailed off, trying to find something at least neutral to use.

"Kiddy?" Finished Sven. "Oh yeah, super kiddy. But the doctor is doing this to make us closer to being synchronized."

"Uber Agents." Günter breathed.

"And you're doing this for that 'psychic bond.'" Giorgio observed.

"I VILL EAT MY OWN BOOTS FOR PSYCHIC POWERS."

"Günter, no." Said Giorgio, a little shocked at the German agent's resolve.

"Günter, YES." Sven cheered as he fist bumped his partner.

"Hey guys! Do you have a brown marker by any chance?" Evan asked the bromantic duo.

Sven handed him one. "Here you go, oh look- you're almost done."

The three agents observed the Frenchman carefully drawing on the egg which now had the same pale blond hair as him, made from superglued knitting wool. "Ta-dah!" He said, turning the egg around triumphantly. "Our baby has the mother's eyes. And facial hair."

Giorgio choked on air, while his peers laughed heartily and introduced their own Eggbert to the 'newly born' egg.

Evan smiled at Giorgio. "Since I did all the construction, you have to come up with the name."

Giorgio side eyed the pale egg, silently offended that it now sported the same moustache and beard. "Ohh... Ok… how about… Gnocchi." He said, inspired by the shape and colour of the egg.

"Aww what a cute name for our little girl." His partner said approvingly.

"Wait, what?!"

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **So the 6th sense thing with paired agents sensing their partners, is canon from Time Crisis 5 where (minor spoiler) Robert says that 'It sounds crazy, but I think Keith is up ahead.'**

 **Thanks for looking forward to The Rio Mission guys! I feel like George R R Martin in terms of writing speed... "It's coming out soooooon."**

 **There's going to be a fair bit of drama in the next chapter of VSSE Blues, but first it'll be a Rio Mission chapter release~**


	3. Feeling Blue

**Feeling Blue**

 **[DAY 4]**

Evan put the frozen meal in the microwave, watching it spin like a solemn merry-go-round before it cried out that his instant pasta was ready. Taking out the steaming plastic tray of food with his gloved right hand, he set it on the counter. The agent looked up to see his partner eyeing the food. "Oh! Hey Giorgio! If you're hungry you can have som-"

Giorgio wordlessly slid the tray across the counter into the bin.

"Hey! That was mean!" Evan cried out. "I was really hungry!"

"Clearly. I'll make dinner. It's fine." Giorgio stated, coolly. "Don't eat that crap." True to his word the chef, during his civilian hours, effortlessly prepared two servings of spinach and chorizo penne pasta. It was made with a basil sauce, which was dyed red by the tomatoes in the dish.

Evan wowed at the dish excited at the plate set in front of him. Then he noticed Giorgio had put the second serving in a glass container. "Oh… you're not eating here?"

"I've got to run, sorry. Knock yourself out with the TV, the VSSE has all the channels you could ask for. Ciao." Giorgio said as he left.

* * *

Later that night Giorgio had returned to the suite, showered, taken care of his teeth, and quietly hopped into bed. His partner was already asleep, his gentle breathing the only sound in the room.

After making himself comfortable in his now sadly smaller bed, Giorgio closed his eyes. Sleep took him, and so did his dreams.

It's evening, a song of Italian opera echoes through the fine halls, a woman singing somberly to violins.

 **{Fiercely the flames are raging. The frenzied mob comes running.}**

Giorgio walks on the beautiful marble floors of his family mansion. The finest, of course, for the most powerful mafia in all of Sicily. The entire Bruno family is mingling with their guests, delicate foods paired with the best wine in the country.

Little nine year old Giorgio has just tucked in his even tinier brother and sister. He is a wonderful big brother, the twins are warm in bed, but now it's time to let papa and mama know. He carefully closes the door so the opera song, _Stride la Vampa,_ doesn't wake up the little ones.

Giorgio walks the halls to head downstairs to the dining room where the adults are playing. The loud chatter is where he is going, but for some reason the cheerfulness sounds far too much like screams than it does laughter, and there is a lot of banging. What was that banging sound? Firecrackers?

 **{The lights blaze up their horrible faces. Higher and higher, the flames mount to the sky!}**

He hurries his pace. Something feels wrong, even though his head doesn't know what's wrong yet, his guts are screaming at him. He needs to find someone, he needs to warn everyone! He hears loud footsteps on the stairwell and before he can approach them himself, a hand grabs him firmly.

"Mama!"

The beautiful woman with amber brown eyes and wavy locks of curled silk for hair, looks dishevelled and is clutching her side with her free hand. "Giorgio, mio caro. Don't make a sound and run!" She says in a hushed whisper.

He wants to cry out for the family doctor, to fix the source of the blood seeping through her champagne coloured dress under her hand. Instead, he whispers as she wanted. "Nina and Carlo are in their bed."

She nods at him, but drags him into papa's study. She goes around his heavy walnut desk and adrenaline grants her the strength to flip it on its side, even through the bullet wound. She puts her bloodied hands on his face tenderly, it gives her an idea, and so she smears as much as she can on his clothes too. "Mama is going to get your baby brother and sister. I need you hide here and pretend to be dead ok? _Promise me you'll survive_. Ti amo, Giorgio."

She retrieves a handgun from a drawer in the desk and runs to the twins' bedroom.

 **{Fiercely the flames rage. The victim is approaching.}**

He does as she asks, lying on his side, wrapping his skinny arms around his legs. Eyes closed, he ensures his breathes are as shallow as possible- in case whoever finds him is not mama. The night feels like it will never end between the gunshots, the cries, and that wretched song.

His eyes flick open, and Giorgio gasps for air. He's an adult again, but the fear is still fresh in his veins. He glances over to Evan who has stirred, but is luckily still asleep.

Walking into the living room corner, he quietly takes books and a laptop off the computer desk. He sets it on its side, and lying down between the table legs, he wraps his arms around his legs. Curling into a ball, he waits for the morning again.

* * *

 **[DAY 5]**

"Are you ok, Giorgio?" Evan asked, worried. "You look super tired."

"I'll… I'll be fine. It's nothing." He replied. Contrary to his words, his aim would then suffer in the training exercise they were about to do.

 _It's always 'nothing'_. Evan thought a little bitterly, as he readied his gun.

"Ok, you take the far right route of the floor, I'll take the left." The older agent ordered while trying not to yawn. _Just stay out of my way._

"Copy that!" Evan responded enthusiastically. This would be their first training exercise together.

With that, Giorgio had the bulk of targets like he had planned. Meanwhile, Evan felt as if he was on a wild goose chase. In the blonde's route, he had only found dummies marked as civilian non-targets.

At the end of the exercise, they entered the debriefing room with two Senior Operations Agents.

"In VSSE history." Begun Keith. "I've never seen such..."

"Shit-house teamwork." Robert finished. "Bernard, during the six minutes of that exercise you only managed to take out ONE target."

"And that target was a innocent bystander." Keith added.

"Sorry… I thought everyone would be a bad guy…" He winced. "Will she make it?"

"No." The older blonde said harshly without missing a beat. "She's pretty freaking dead with that head shot between the eyes!" He motioned to his laptop screen which showed a replay of the ruthless execution of a female dummy holding a baby dummy in her arms.

Evan looked down in shame.

"And YOU." Robert barked at Giorgio.

"What are you complaining about?" Hissed Giorgio. "We wiped the floor clean, there shouldn't be an issue."

"Well Mister 'Top Agent in Europe'." Robert began, making air quotation with his fingers. "There were twelve targets, yet you somehow managed to use 54 bullets!" He snapped. "YOU RAN OUT OF BULLETS ON THE ELEVENTH TARGET."

"I stabbed number twelve in the face, my point still stands." The brunette shot back.

"This is a SHOOTING exercise for crying out loud!" Yelled Robert, who was seconds away from popping a blood vessel.

"Agent Bruno." Keith interjected. "Even with double or even triple tapping the targets, the acceptable ammo use should range between 24, to 36 at the very most. Though this wouldn't even had been an issue, if you had shared the targets _with_ your partner."

"We're scoring this team an E." Stated Robert. "The only reason it's not an F is because you can only get that score from non-completion of the exercise."

Evan frowned. "... That E wouldn't happen to stand for 'Excellent' would it?"

"Get out."

* * *

 **[DAY 6]**

Evan sighed. Giorgio had left the suite in a hurry again before they could have any meaningful time with each other. At the very most, all they've had up to this point was small talk. Now that he thinks about it, besides their civilian jobs, they don't really know anything about each other.

The blonde turns to look at Gnocchi. The egg 'baby' sat nestled in a teacup he had lined with a clean sock as a blanket. "You know." He says to her. "Your mother is a frigid bitch."

* * *

Giorgio lets out a small sneeze. Reaching into his pocket for a packet of tissues, he feels crinkly plastic. He pulls out a yellow candy and raises an eyebrow at it. Suddenly, he hears a loud snort to his side. It's Agent Santiago Fernández, that annoying guy he barely knows.

"Eating sweets like a child." The man taunts.

Giorgio rolls his eyes up to meet the other agent's, barely interested. He proceeds to unwrap the sweet with the hand holding it, and pops it into his mouth to prove a point of how little he cares about the other agent's opinions of him. _Holy shit this is sour. WHY did it have to be lemon?_ He holds a poker face nonetheless.

* * *

Alan and Wesley were holding way too many things between them. Alan had two laptops and a stack of reports balancing on top of each other, while Wesley held a tower or papers. He at least tried to, until a loose stack in the middle wormed its way out to spill onto the floor.

"Ohhhh balls." Muttered Wesley.

Alan snickered. "You have a doctorate in engineering, that structural weak point has brought SHAME on you."

"Alan, you're so mean!" Laughed Wesley as he awkwardly started to bend down to retrieve the documents.

"Oh hey! Let me get that for you." Offered Evan as he bent down and retrieved the papers.

"Ah, thank you so much!" Smiled Wesley. Evan took some documents off Alan as well, offering to escort them to their destination. The trio talked amongst themselves happily until they reached the file room.

"Oh I'm so sorry! I was so distracted, I've been rude. Nice to meet you, I'm Wesley Lambert and this is my partner Alan Dunaway."

Evan laughed. "Bonjour! I'm Evan Bernard, and my partner, wherever he is- is Giorgio Bruno."

Alan and Wesley gaped at each other thinking the same thing, before composing themselves and asking him about his new partnership.

"Oh, honestly. He's a little standoffish but, he'll warm up to me. But I won't give up. You see, I have a trick up my sleeve!" The rookie agent grinned, winking.

* * *

 **Authors Note: I dedicate what little angst I am capable of in this fic, to the Queen of Tragedies- June Ellie!**

 **-The opera song is sung in Italian: Il Trovatore: "Stride la vampa". It is about a woman singing to a crowd about her poor mother being burnt at the stake. Anita Rachvelishvili does a killer job at it (should be the first result on Youtube!).**


	4. Black and Blue

**Black and Blue**

 **[DAY 12]**

It's morning, and Giorgio thinks of the day before. He's annoyed that Wesley is annoyed at him at this point. The older blonde had asked him how he found his new partner.

"Not bad. He's got enthusiasm."

When asked about details however, he came up short. "He was in the French Coast Guard Troop. His civilian job is in high rise carpentry."

Wesley had shaken his head. "I meant what do you know about him? Ok let's start small. What's his favourite movie?"

"..."

"Dog or cat person?" Agent Lambert asked, still at least a little hopeful.

"..."

"Colour. His favourite colour."

"I… am I being interrogated here?" Giorgio asked.

"Giorgio…" Wesley sighed.

"I share living quarters with him A-OK and I cook him nice food. See? I am trying." He defended.

"No you're not! You couldn't tell me one freaking thing about him! Not one! When you have a partner, they place their _life_ in your hands. They aren't a damn chore!" He yelled.

* * *

Back in the suite kitchen Giorgio silently fumed at the memory. "This is so damn stupid!" He cursed to no one in particular. He spotted the egg he and Evan had been given almost a fortnight ago, sitting in her teacup. _Speaking of stupid..._

* * *

Evan entered the room, two large bottles of alcohol in his hands. "Hey, partner! I was hoping we could have some fu- UUUUUCCKKK!" He screamed as he saw Giorgio getting ready to crack Gnocchi in half- into a ceramic roasting dish filled with diced tomatoes and herbs.

"Oh you're back. Here, I'm making us a nice breakfast, I think you'll like this one." Giorgio said completely ignoring his partner's scream. However Evan had, with lightning speed, thrown the bottles he was carrying safely onto the couch and swiped the helpless egg out of his hand.

"Hey! Give that back!" Giorgio shouted in annoyance. He ran after Evan who was now running away from him around the suite.

After about five rounds, Evan could tell Giorgio was getting more accustomed to his evasive running pattern. He kicked open the suite door (which luckily stayed hinged), surprising personnel on the other side.

"WOAH!" Exclaimed a surprised Ted from the IT Department, as he stumbled back.

Giorgio meanwhile, was getting progressively irritated. "Get back here- you DAMNED brat!" After failing to reach the taller man's egged hand, he changed tactics. "Oh that's it!" He growled. Giorgio charged and slid down on the ground taking out Evan's legs with his own.

"Woah!" Evan exclaimed as he performed a break fall, ensuring a gentler landing. "What is this, a soccer field?!"

His annoyed partner ignored the sass he was getting, and arose from the ground to sprint after the egg which was now freely rolling away. _You won't escape death!_ Until he felt the air knocked out of his lungs as he tumbled to the ground with Evan from his tackle.

The duo rolled away from the egg in a tangled mass of bodies as the Frenchman had intended. He was leaning over his partner with both hands planted on either side of the Italian's head. "STOP TRYING TO COOK OUR CHILD!"

"What's going on?" A nearby blue agent asked her partner.

"Sounds like infanticide." Came the nonchalant reply from the other woman wearing red.

"Ugh. Men."

Giorgio put a foot on Evan's upper abdomen and planted his own hands on the ground. Using the leverage, he pushed with all his limbs with a burst of strength, flipping the surprised blonde off him, over his head. "Hrrr! Just calm the hell down! It's just a _stupid_ egg." He huffed catching his breath.

"Well it's OUR stupid baby, you ass!" Evan said getting up and blocking off the path where Gnocchi had rolled.

Ted stood terrified in a corner, blocked in by Evan. He had attempted to calmly walk away, but walking had been his mistake. "Uhh I don't wanna get involved in this… I should probably go now…"

Giorgio, still on the ground, springs up with his arm and catches Evan's wrist with his free hand. With his legs, he snakes them around the arm he has caught and locks the elbow joint, bringing Evan face-down to the ground with a flying omoplata.

Evan rolls forward to untangle his arm from his partner's legs.

"Tsk." Feeling the younger agent undo the joint lock of the hold, Giorgio disengages completely and slither-crawls towards a terrified Ted- as he is standing in front of the prized would-be-breakfast.

Ted lets out a high pitched shriek. All he wanted to do today was install anti-virus software on the new VSSE computers.

"No!" Evan pounces on Giorgio's legs; grabbing an ankle with one hand and the straps of his orange leg ammunition holsters with the other.

Giorgio feels his beard scrape the hallway floor uncomfortably as he is pulled backwards forcefully. "TED! I need you to crack that egg into a bowl for me, can you do that?!" He shouts at the already petrified man.

Evan has mounted Giorgio again, this time having his back. But, should he decide to move off his partner, the homicidal agent is free to hunt again. "Don't you dare Ted! Keep the baby safe!"

Ted has absolutely no context to why the one agent is so hell-bent on eating an egg with a face drawn on it, and another agent is calling the egg a 'baby'. He only knows fear.

Giorgio yells at Ted again. "Ted if you don't do as I ask, so help me god- your loved ones will never find your STUPID body!"

Evan gets his say in as well. "If you do that- I can make it look like an accident! A HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE ACCIDENT!"

Ted whimpers loudly and begins to move slowly.

"I will straight up kill you!" Giorgio hisses with venom, as he attempts to lunge at Ted who flinches at the movement.

"I- I- I'll- I'll do as you ask!" He stammers in defeat. He had decided that out of the two, Giorgio is the scarier one.

Still pinning his partner firmly. A loud bang fills the room as Evan punches a hole in the wall and growls. "YOU BREAK THAT EGG- AND I BREAK YOUR FACE! LOOK TED." He snarls at the fist-sized hole in the wall. "THAT'S YOUR FACE."

"Woah! What is even happening?!" A new bystander's voice asks. It's a VERY confused Alan who came to investigate the source of the shouting, only to discover it was something more akin to a battle.

Taking the moment of distraction as a godsend, Ted hurtles from his corner-prison and runs straight to the HR Department.

After watching a record breaking sprint from the tech-guy of all people, Evan grabs his partner's shoulder to roll him onto his back so they can face each other. "What the hell is your freaking problem?!"

"Look, you _stupido idiota._ I'm trying. To cook. FOOD! So bite me!" Giorgio snaps at the younger agent.

Looking at his infuriating partner beneath him, Evan's mouth is suddenly upturned to a smile despite his seething anger. Sounding strangely calm, he says. "Whatever you say, _partner_."

With a sudden lunge from the man on top of him, Giorgio yelped loudly as he felt teeth sink into his neck.

* * *

Escorted by up to five field agents, just in case, the clashing duo was brought to the Human Resources Department. Although Alan had wanted to sit in, he had to leave for a sudden mission deployment with Wesley.

The brawling pair sat across the HR Officer Ben Goodman. "Alrighty guys! Thanks for popping in!" The jolly Australian greeted.

"We had five guys with tasers pointed at us." Evan explained.

"Still, you're both here- good start. So now we can talk about a few 'little' problems that have been brought to my attention." Ben said making a huge gap with his thumb and his index finger.

The duo received a very long and very obvious explanation, on why it was frowned upon to intimidate a coworker with a myriad of death threats. The HR Officer _really_ dumbed it down for them- as if they were only learning the concept for the first time.

"Now, then." Said Ben. "You two fellas aren't getting along, even though all the new partners have become good mates by now."

"Tell me about it." Evan said rolling his eyes.

"Hmph." Giorgio shot him a death glare with one hand gently pressing the gauze on his neck.

"Now, now fellas. We're all here, so now let's talk this out calmly." Mediated Ben. "Let's really listen to each other. Mr Bernard, you sound like you have something to say. Let's hear it."

Evan turned his head to face Giorgio directly. "I can tell you like your space, and I've been giving it to you. But you never- and I mean _never_ meet me halfway. Look at how we compare to all the other partnered agents."

"What is your problem?" Asked Giorgio with an eyebrow raised. "I was making us breakfast, you _ungrateful shit_."

"No, you were making _me_ breakfast- and then disappearing who-knows-where like you always do. We _never_ talk. Sure, you've been feeding me. So at least I get to know how it feels to be someone's unwanted _pet_!" Evan snaps, getting up to head to the door.

"That's it! Get up and leave. Do the inevitable. When things get hard- JUST LEAVE!" He stops suddenly, realising that he wasn't really talking to Evan anymore. Feeling embarrassed at his realisation, and his outburst in HR of all places, Giorgio bolts out of the room.

* * *

He's made it to the gun range. It's where he goes to clear his head when he can no longer provide a calm facade. He shoots a target a good distance away. All six rounds have made it through the head. He reloads and empties the clip again, faster this time. Again, and faster yet again. He releases the empty clip onto the ground and jams a full one harshly into the magazine chamber.

The paper target's head is shredded by the bullet fire and Giorgio opts for the throat of his outlet as a new target instead. After the gun finishes roaring its shots, Giorgio releases the empty clip. Before he can slam in a new one, a tanned hand gently rests on the top of his. He pauses to look up at the owner of said hand, who has the _balls_ to stop him from venting his stresses.

"Richard Miller." He finds himself saying in surprise.

[Giorgio, hello.] The mute older agent signs to him. [You should be more gentle, it does not deserve your rage.] His message is accompanied with a sympathetic smile.

The other agent lets out a tired sigh, he hasn't been on a mission in about three weeks- but he feels like he's been fighting _everyone_ somehow. "Are you here to tell me I'm a jackass too?"

The ace shakes his head, smile still there. [These tools keep us alive. Even though the VSSE has a bounty of quartermasters...] Richard signs, stopping to pat his own holstered gun as if he was placing a hand on his heart. [We field agents, always maintain our own handguns. We know them in their entirety, because we alone are the ones holding them.] Richard draws his gun from his holster letting Giorgio hold it.

The brunette tucks his own away and holds it with two hands, not because it's heavy, but out of respect.

[The 'Strayer Voigt Infinity'.] Richard signs when he sees Giorgio look up from his gun. [See the scar on the barrel?]

Giorgio nods.

[Sudden knife attack from a crazy chef on a cruise ship. It saved me.] Richard says, looking up at the memory.

Giorgio raises an eyebrow at the odd situation, but nods again.

[Every three and a half months, I treat and polish the grip. I know they are a bit old fashioned…] Miller chuckles. [But I love the wooden grip. I know every minute groove it has, and it's somewhat moulded itself over time to the shape of my hand, so that it may never slip out of my grasp in battle.]

Giorgio hands back the gun after tracing the gentle curve in the wood with his fingers. "I know, you're right." He says looking at his own firearm, new minute scratches evident at the bottom. "... It's with me to protect my ass, but if I keep this up. It'll break and I won't have a partn- shit- I mean firearm by my side." He lets out another long, tired sigh. "I should probably go say sorry to him."

Agent Miller gives him an encouraging thumbs up. Although, after seeing the younger man hesitant in making an effort to lift his feet, he pats him on the back a little roughly.

"Oh hey, alright, alright- I'm going!" Before he is too far, Giorgio turns his head around. "Richard… thank you. I needed that."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **-Richard is VSSE base mum.**

 **-I think it's well worth watching the execution of a Flying Omoplata on Youtube! It's a delightfully complicated locking move from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ)!**


	5. Partnership Blueprint

**Partnership Blueprint**

 **[DAY 12]**

Giorgio entered their suite looking around for his partner. After seeing the open living room and kitchen area empty, he checked the bedroom. Amongst a heaped mess of blankets, he spotted Evan lying on his side.

Walking towards the figure slowly he began apologising for his own lack of trying in their partnership, agreeing with Evan's earlier points that day. "I have… personal issues that have nothing to do with you. But you've been dealing with them in a way, and for that. I'm sorry."

"..." The figure said nothing.

 _He probably isn't too happy with how vague I'm being…_

Steeling himself, Giorgio began. "You're probably not in the mood for a _sob story_ , but I… I lost my entire family in one night. I was taken in by an officer at the scene, Giuseppe. He raised me as his own. We were so happy together." He says fondly. "Well, at least I thought we were. He was the one who had to put up with my night terrors though, I'd run to him whenever I had them. I don't think he really knew what he was getting himself into when he adopted a child who had survived a massacre."

Giorgio looked down as he continued, sullen. "One day, months later, I overheard him on the phone. He said that he didn't think he could continue raising me as his own. That I wasn't getting any better, and maybe another family would be able to take care of me."

"That was the day, when I realised that the weak are easy to discard. Giuseppe was probably getting sick of my shit by then- getting woken up in the middle of the night by a crying kid. I don't blame him for it." He smiled sadly. "See? When you get close to someone, they can find out how broken you are. And no one wants someone who is broken."

Silence filled the air.

"...Evan?" Giorgio cautiously stepped forward to prod Evan's arm. "Are you asl-" The sleeve collapsed under the pressure from his fingers. "-a jacket, I was laying my _soul_ bare to a _jacket_." He groaned and muttered. "I'm such a fucking idiot." As he turned to leave, he jerked in surprise as he spotted Evan leaning on the bedroom door frame.

"If we were bonded really well, you would have been able to tell that I was actually behind you." Evan grinned cheekily.

Giorgio scoffed gently. "Hey… how much of that did you hear?... I can... start from the top if you missed it."

"It's all good, I heard all of it." Evan replied as he closed the distance between them.

The brunette let out a sigh of exasperation, and mostly relief, as he felt himself being hugged again. He didn't realise how high his heart rate had sky rocketed from sharing that part of himself. After all, he had never told a soul about this up until now. Telling Evan, who he barely knew, felt surprisingly therapeutic.

"You know, you really suck at hugs." The younger agent commented.

"..." Giorgio relaxed his posture to sink into the hug. Chin raised up to rest on the other man's shoulder.

"Eh. Getting better." The blonde comments, one arm holding the small of the other man's back and the other gently stroking the back of his head.

After who knows how long, Evan's surprised when Giorgio decides to speak.

"I still get those night terrors." He says, barely a whisper. "Some nights, I dream about that night. Over and over, and over again."

Although Evan doesn't know about the night in complete detail, he understands him now.

* * *

 **[DAY 19]**

The pair had spent the entire week training intensively with each other in order to make up for lost time. With a passing team grading by the end of the month, they could be cleared for commencing actual field work together. It was something all newly partnered agents were eagerly gunning for, so to say.

The duo start making their way back to their suite after yet another gruelling day of training. Feeling more comfortable with him, Giorgio decides to tease his partner. "You really can't handle someone not liking you, can you?" He asks referring to Evan's earlier attempts at befriending him. "Bet if the VSSE had a prom night, you'd run for prom king."

"Hey!" Evan laughed. "It's not about the popularity for me, it's just… I grew up watching tonnes of action-cop movies. You know, explosions! Flips! Shooting bad guys with a gun in each hand!" He exclaims, making finger guns with both his hands.

His partner rolls his eyes with a small smile.

"But the good guy doesn't go at it alone, they've always got this equally awesome badass by their side. So, I was so hyped when it was me who got picked for the VSSE. When I finished being a trainee, they gave me my own gun." Evan says drawing it out. "They said it was the sister gun to my new partner's."

Giorgio took his own out his handgun, a Heckler and Koch USP Expert, holding it alongside Evan's. His is completely black, save for the custom white grip. Meanwhile, Evan's gun is bicoloured, black with a silver slider.

"I was happy about the gun, but I was blown away when they told me I was getting a partner on that day. I was really looking forward to you."

Giorgio feels a bit sheepish as he recalls the extra effort he put in to _avoiding_ the younger man. "Oof. Bet I blew your expectations out of the water." He remarks sarcastically.

"Hmmm… I know." Evan thinks. "You can make it up to me by cooking me a five-star _banquet_. I'm not letting you off easy though, that includes dessert!"

"Fine, done."

"Oh, and let's watch some movies together too. I grew up with lots of Jean Claude Van Damme."

Giorgio smiles softly. "Sure thing, Bambino."

Evan grinned. Though, curious at what Giorgio had just called him however, he pulled out his phone and googles what 'bambino' means. _Is this my first genuine compliment?_ His face falls when he reads the translation _'Bambino: a baby or child'_. "HEY! I'M 24!"

Giorgio huffed. "Okay, how about… 'Cucciolo' [baby]?"

Evan taps on his phone again. Looking up, he glares at his teasing partner.

"No? How about... 'Piccino' or 'Bebè?" Giorgio smiled slyly.

"Oh come on! 'Bebè' means the same thing in French too! RAAGH!" Evan growls as he charges at his partner.

 _Uh oh._ Realising that he may have pushed a little too far, Giorgio instinctively starts running away.

* * *

Giorgio's regular walk is such a carefree saunter, bordering on lethargic, that Evan doesn't really believe his eyes as his partner is running away with such an impressive speed. _Huh! Maybe you walk like that normally, because you're saving energy for moments like this._

The fleeing agent spots some higher ups exit a conference room, and switches to walking. Evan picks up on this and walks as well. Giorgio gives them a respectful nod, and as soon as they all walk past him, it's back to sprinting.

Evan goes for a trot, refusing to settle for walking speed as his target gains distance again. He salutes the higher ups as he jogs past them, appearing as if he is training. As soon as he passes the group, he bursts into full speed.

"Woah!" Says one of the higher ups, as he turns around.

What is it, Paul?" A colleague asks.

"I just felt a massive backdraft… Guess I was just imagining things?"

Giorgio runs through a fire escape door. Bending over the stairwell railing, he reaches the ground on the railings outer side to perform a one-handed handstand. With the other hand holding onto the railing bars, he pushes off to forward flip down a stairwell level.

"Huh!" Evan exclaims. "Please! I eat parkour for BREAKFAST."

"That makes no sense!" Giorgio yells back, still running away.

Evan jumps on top of the stair railing and leaps off, landing on the stair railing of the lower floor. He rolls onto the floor and comes out of it in a sprint, pursuing Giorgio into the new corridor.

There's a corner up ahead as the corridor splits into two at a T-junction.

 _You have to slow down in order to turn an angle like that!_ Evan thinks joyfully, as he contemplates launching a tackle as he runs full-speed ahead.

Giorgio keeps his extreme pace however, and lowers his posture as he approaches the end of the hallway. Right as he reaches the corner he grabs onto the edge of the wall with a hand, and drops on to one knee to perform a sliding turn on the smooth hallway floor. He turns the harsh angle without losing any of the speed, and immediately springs up to return to a sprint. _I don't intend on getting tackled again 'Piccino'. It felt like getting hit by a bus the first time._

Evan barely makes the turn himself and runs into the wall with a loud thud. However, smile still on his face, he immediately pushes himself off the wall to resume the thunderous chase.

Although curious, onlookers press themselves against the walls, not wanting to be mowed down by either of the field agents.

Giorgio performs another sliding turn manoeuvre again, this time into a smaller corridor.

Learning from his earlier collision, Evan runs at a wider angle at the corner and instead of colliding into the upcoming wall this time- he uses his momentum to run up, and along it before kicking off and landing back on ground to run on.

Suddenly, his sneakers screech to a halt. _Huh? Where'd he go?_ Evan runs out the other side of the narrow corridor, he doesn't hear or see Giorgio anywhere. He continues sprinting, determined to catch up before the other man escapes...

Back in the narrow hallway, Giorgio retracts his arms and legs which are planted on the parallel walls of the corridor, and drops down from the ceiling. _Good. Lost him_. It seems although he is the faster runner, Evan on the other hand, does not know how to run out of energy. "Huh. What now?" He wonders out loud. "UGH!" He tumbles to the ground from the bus-like impact of a tackle from his blind spot.

Having circled back to the corridor, Evan is on top of him pinning him on the floor with his full weight. Giorgio groans. "Urgh... so heavy! What the hell have you been eating?"

"Oh well, I share a suite with this fancy Italian chef. And he feeds me delicious carbs every day." Evan replies facetiously with a grin.

"Ah. Fair point."

* * *

 **[DAY 20]**

The pair spend all morning training with secondary weapons.

Giorgio, as the more experienced one, is a better shot out of the two. Even with the extremely high rate of fire from a machine gun, his bullets seldom hit off-mark.

Evan on the other hand, likes to get nice and close to his targets. Naturally, he gravitates towards using a shotgun to maximise its effectiveness at close range.

The duo are headed out to grab a well-earned lunch together but unfortunately, the hallway they take also contains Santiago.

The antagonistic man takes long strides dead centre to Giorgio's to confront him. "So I see the 'best in Europe' gets an 'E' in the last team exercise. How rich." He spits.

At this point, the brunette is more annoyed than amused at the other agent picking a fight with him _every_ time they walk into each other. "Oh. And I was doing so well in _not_ seeing you for the past few days…" Giorgio comments dryly. "Evan, we're leaving." He says, as he steers to an angle in order to walk past the other man.

Evan nods with a grin as he stretches his arms above his head.

Suddenly, Giorgio's head snaps back as Santiago forcefully grabs a handful of his wavy hair. "I did not say I was done with you!" He spits angrily.

 _Click._

Giorgio has his gun drawn and pointed up under Santiago's jaw. "Don't. Touch. The. Hair." He says coldly.

Agent Fernandez does as he is told, and notes that the blonde man with Giorgio has circled to his other side, at the ready to lunge at him. "Hmph!" He sneers, stomping off.

Evan frowns. "'Hmph' yourself, tête de nœud."

The offended agent snaps his head back. "What did you say?"

"OH!" Says Evan a lot louder. "I called you a DICKHEAD!"

Santiago makes a disgusted face at the rookie's impudence, although he keeps walking away nonetheless.

"Yeesh." Says Evan. "I'd hate to be his partner."

Giorgio visibly shudders at the thought.

"Ha ha ha!"

* * *

With their guns disassembled on the coffee table, the duo clean the parts of their firearms one by one dutifully.

"What's wrong?" The blonde asks his partner as he scrubs his gun barrel with a slim bristled bore-brush to remove debris.

"I'm… just a little weirded out at how _invested_ Santiago is in hating my guts. Seems like a lot of effort." Giorgio comments, as he wets the cotton mop on top of the cleaning rod with gun oil in order to lubricate the barrel.

"How'd ya piss him off?"

"Why are you assuming _I'm_ the one at fault?"

Evan gives Giorgio a look. "You barely knew who he was when I first saw the guy. Maybe you forgot." He shrugs.

Giorgio closes his open mouth. Although it was annoying, his partner may have had a point.

"Did you sleep with his girlfriend?"

"No."

"Did you sleep with his boyfriend?"

Giorgio quietly snorts. "No! The answer does not involve me being a harlot."

Evan laughs, continuing his theories. "There was only one piece of fruit left in the communal fruit bowl, and you _cruelly_ swooped in and took it before he could."

"I have my own supply at home, there's never any damn peaches in that bowl. I'm sick of apples."

"OH! I know! HE HAS A CRUSH ON YOU!" Evan exclaims, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

Giorgio huffs, somehow both offended and amused.

"I mean the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Back in primary school, I'd tug the curls of the prettiest girl in class for her attention." Evan winks.

"Hmph. You _damn flirt_."

They stare at each other before spontaneously laughing.

"Well that's one way I didn't expect that E grading to haunt us." Evan comments.

Giorgio is about to comment, but a knock on the suite door interrupts him. "Keith, Robert. Good afternoon." He salutes them formally, taking note of the duos' straight postures and serious expressions.

Evan comes to doorway and does the same.

"Agent Giorgio Bruno and Agent Evan Bernard." Robert states.

"In light of your poor grading in your second team exercise." Keith continues as he hands an envelope to Giorgio. "You are both required to attend a remedial team-workshop at seven hundred hours tomorrow at room 9-S. This recommendation is non-negotiable. That is all."

Evan and Giorgio exchange surprised glances. Guess there was another way the E-grading was going to haunt them.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **-The new chapter has finally ascended from purgatory... Huzzah!**


	6. Blue Moon

**Blue Moon**

 **[DAY 21]**

Evan splashes water onto his face to wash away the remnants of sleep. After he dries himself, he enters the kitchen and dining room where Giorgio has set two plates and ceramic dishes on the table.

The blonde happily thanks his partner for the food and plops himself down. He looks at the ceramic dish and freezes in abject horror with his mouth open. _NON! BAKED EGGS?! Our petite [little] Gnocchi!_

Giorgio is about to take a seat when he realises what Evan is thinking. With a finger he pushes Evan's gasping jaw upwards to close it. "Relax. None of the eggs are our Gnocchi. She's in the fridge where she'll keep for longer." He honestly dreaded the day when they'd have to throw her out… _Eggs don't last forever Evan._ His partner was going to be crushed, but the brunette will deal with that day when it comes...

Evan's shoulders drop and he lets himself breathe.

"Trust me."

"I do… Just had a knee-jerk reaction there…"

The blonde happily starts eating the yolky baked eggs, enjoying the tomato-coated, melty mozzarella with a bumpy looking crusty bread bun. The soft inside of the bread has many caverns to fill with the deliciously herbed liquid with. "Mmmm perfect choice of bread." Evan hums.

"Thank you. It's called _michetta_ , the poster-boy bread of Milano. I like having it with saucy things like this, but you can use it for sandwiches or even just stuff them full with Nutella." Giorgio explains.

Evan looks at Giorgio with stars in his eyes. "Giorgio Bruno, veux-tu m'épouser?" [will you marry me?]"

"Hm?"

* * *

With breakfast cleaned up, the two scan the letter Keith and Robert had given them yesterday.

"'All underperforming teams are subject to this remedial class to improve team cohesion.'" Giorgio reads.

"I wonder how hardcore the exercises will be." Evan wonders, shifting restlessly in excitement.

"Don't underestimate it." Giorgio warns. "It _will_ be a gruelling drill if the aim is to achieve a leap in combat skills."

Evan nods. They had gotten up two hours before the appointed time in order to ensure they ate breakfast well before— in order to prevent any possible vomiting.

* * *

Tensions high, they entered Room 9-S ready for the Drill Sergeant from hell itself. All their training, all the preparation they had put in maintaining their weapons, steeling themselves mentally beforehand- all of this had been completely undone by what they saw.

"A… a dance class?" Evan asks.

There was an assortment of agents dancing with their partners in the gymnasium-spaced room. A pair of agents begrudgingly doing the foxtrot clumsily with each other, contrasting a female pair across in another corner of the room happily tapping and kicking their feet to swing music.

Both men looked at each other with eyebrows raised before looking at the sight before them again.

"Uhhh maybe we have the wrong room." Giorgio suggested. Though the tag by the doorway was unmistakably '9-S', but he refused to believe.

"Yeah… Let's go to some actual training rooms to train… How about some sniping practice, or something?" Evan asked, still a bit everywhere.

Giorgio nodded. Somewhat let down by what they had seen. They turned around and started making their way back to the door.

"Attendez! Wait messieurs!" A heavily accented voice calls out towards them.

"Walk faster." Giorgio hisses under his breath.

An older, but well-muscled man slides in front of them with a smooth motion. "Ahh! The infamous duo I have been told to keep my eyes on!" He exclaims with his heavy French accent.

"Pardon [Sorry]… But we have entered the wrong room." Evan says as they inch closer towards the door past the flamboyant man.

"Non, non, non! I will not believe this! That a fellow Frenchman is fleeing like a coward, like all those stereotypical insults suggest!"

Evan stops and turns around. "Now look here, you…"

Giorgio turns to retrieve his stalling partner. "Evan, don't fall for his cheap provocations. Let's go for some rifle practice."

The dance instructor frowns and pretends to look at the non-existent dirt under his well-kept fingernails. "Oh… perhaps I was wrong then. Our Italian neighbours are not similar to us French after all. They simply _cannot_ dance, as they lack ' _la passion_.'"

Giorgio narrows his eyes at the taunting man, tempted to turn the square scarf tied around his neck into a noose.

* * *

"Hmmm! Non, not quite mes amis [my friends]." Jean says as he observes the pair slowly pick up the pace with their prescribed dance. Chests pressed against each other, left hands entwined, they dance the waltz.

 **[Blue moon you saw me standing alone. Without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own.]**

At the moment it looks clunky and awkward. It doesn't help that they are both trying to lead the steps.

The instructor laughs. "You are two stags fighting for dominance. But in the waltz, there are no stags- only swans. One which follows after its mate with grace as they float across the pond."

"But I thought swans were a ballet thing?" Asks Evan.

"Shush you." Jean chides. "That's it Monsieur Bruno, let Bernard lead. Follow his steps. Do not thrash, glide across the pond."

With a new manoeuvre, the _turning lock_ , Instructor Romée sees the pair looking stiff again.

"Ah ah ah, the bad 'abit is showing again, Monsieur Bruno. You are too rigid. You need to lean against your partner's hand on your back. Let him hold your weight."

Giorgio stops to collect himself, he's not used to _sucking_ so badly at something. And he's certainly not used to depending on someone else for anything, let alone keeping _upright balance._

Evan gives an encouraging smile to his partner. "Think of it as a hug." He says holding his arms out.

Progress resumes again.

 **[** **And then there suddenly appeared before me. The only one my arms will ever hold.**

 **I heard somebody whisper "please adore me". And when I looked, the moon had turned to gold!]**

"That it! That it! Un, deux, trois, quatre! Un, deux, trois, quatre!" Jean claps excitedly. "And now— DIP!"

With the sudden exclamation, Evan dips Giorgio.

Being taken completely by surprise, Giorgio lets go of Evan and whirls his arms over his head in an attempt to perform a yoga bridge. It's a reflexive action to the sensation of falling backwards, but it makes Jean groan and hide his eyes behind a hand at the poor dance form.

Evan chuckles as he lifts his partner back up. "Trust me!" He says earnestly to his partner.

After a while, Jean slowly raises his head from the hand he is hiding behind when he hears steps again in the one to four rhythm. _?... Oh! Bon!_ [Good!]

With a few more twists and turns gracefully across the floor, the pair share a silent agreement when the music reaches a break and Giorgio leans back as Evan dips him fairly low.

 **[Blue moon! Now I'm no longer alone, without a dream in my heart. Without a love of my own.]**

 _That ought to impress him._ "Voilà!" Exclaims Evan. "When are we done with the lesson, Instructor Romée?"

The man smiles fondly at the visible improvement from the pair, the duo finally showing they could move beautifully as a single entity. "Until it is no longer shit."

Drill Sergeant Jean Romée was a perfectionist after all.

The duo mentally groan.

* * *

Evan finds it amusing as Giorgio's hair sways with the twists and turns they perform.

"What are you grinning about?" Giorgio asks. "Have you finally gone crazy from hearing 'Blue Moon' over and over again?"

Evan snorts at the scepticism of his sanity. "You know, for a guy… you have _really_ pretty hair."

Expecting to be chided or sassed for the comment, Evan is surprised when Giorgio gives him a soft expression he hasn't seen before.

"Thank you. It was a gift from my mother's side."

The pair share a moment of fondness with each other, which is suddenly ruined when a scream with a Spanish accent can be heard.

"Mr Alvarez, calm dow—" A different pair's instructor soothes.

"No!" Screams Santiago. "I have been calm enough! Having such a _weak_ partner is bad enough, but this pendejo [fucktard] cannot even learn a simple dance. I will NOT have my suffering prolonged by this retard!"

The berated man looks down at the ground, feeling so very small.

"Monsieur Bernard. Stay where you are." Jean orders to Evan who had started walking towards the abused man.

"But he—"

"Do not forget that we are all soldiers here. You are to complete my drills until I dismiss you both." Jean says sternly. His expression softens a little. "Do not worry about that… mess. My colleague is more than capable of sorting it out.

"Poor Rúben…" Evan mumbles as he and Giorgio take their positions again. _Guess we found out which poor guy is Santiago's partner._

* * *

Much to their displeasure it would be a total of five hours before they are given a satisfactory completion status of the remedial class.

Jean watched happily watched the duo grumble towards the doorway, as they were finally dismissed from his class and allowed their freedom. "Ahh, don't they remind you of us?"

Another grey-haired instructor clicked his tongue. "I take offense in you suggesting Italians lack 'la passion'.

"Ha ha ha! Now, now, Monsieur Bardi. That was just bait to get him to dance. I know how fiery Italians are from experience." Jean grinned holding out his hands. "Now! Shall we dance, my dear partner?"

* * *

 **[DAY 22]**

They are in a labyrinth modelled after a warehouse today with pop-up targets. To add some danger to it, most of the targets have fitted motion detectors which activate paint guns to fire. When sufficiently hit, the paint gun deactivates while the pressure plates feed a score into a computer.

It's not to say they were slow in improving before being subjected to the horrors of eternal dancing, but their movement have a flow previously unseen.

Rather than trying to carry the team himself, Giorgio does the unthinkable, and lets his partner take point and have his pick of oncoming targets.

Evan relishes diving head first into the fray to mow down any immediate targets with his rapid fire. It suits his confident, albeit brash nature.

In their formation, Giorgio covers Evan's flank and takes out targets from a longer range utilising his high precision skills. It's as though they glided rather than battled through the training room.

"Phew! That felt waaaay easier than usual. It wasn't set to super easy or something, was it?" Evan says as they enter the review room.

Giorgio looks at a monitor. "No... Looks like it's set to the usual A-rank difficulty. Hey, we finished it in a little over three minutes."

Evan grins at his partner. When they had first started, it took roughly ten minutes for a warehouse this size.

Giorgio smiles back at his partner. "How about that banquet I promised you to celebrate tomorrow night?"

* * *

 **[DAY 23]**

Evan poked his head in the fridge. "Ahhh… I think you got too excited."

There was literally no room to move anything.

Meats, vegetables, fruits and cheese were stacked neatly against each other as if they were blocks in a Tetris game. Should he remove the little tub of honey yoghurt he wanted, the structural integrity would be compromised and everything would collapse in an edible landslide.

Giorgio clicked his tongue as he acknowledged the dilemma. "Okay, I might have gotten a little carried away when I heard the word 'banquet'. How about I invite a couple of my friends over? I reckon you'll get along like a house on fire with the red of that pair especially."

* * *

Wesley knocks on the door. "Hey Giorgio! I know we're early, but we thought we'd help out. By 'we', I mean me."

The door opens to reveal a pleasantly surprised Evan when recognition dawns on his face. "Alan! Wesley!"

Having found out that Alan's civilian job is as an underground DJ, Evan excitedly talks with him about music on the sofa.

Wesley helps Giorgio with cutting vegetables in the kitchen.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Unlike the one I got before we were suddenly deployed. Alan told me you and Evan got into a massive fight."

Giorgio let out an amused sigh. "Yes mum, we're getting along now."

Wesley crosses his arms at the jibe.

"We even hold hands when we're watching EuroVision together." The Italian snarks.

Wesley breaks and laughs at the sarcasm. "But seriously, have you both apologised to Ted? You know— for terrorising the poor man who had no idea what was even going on?"

"Yes we did. I even gave him a bottle of red I was saving." Giorgio smiled back earnestly. _Goodbye my beautiful bottle of_ _Masseto_ _._

Wesley looks proud of the other man, and notices something on his friend's neck. "Say… why do you have a bite mark on your throat?"

Evan jolts as he overhears the question.

Alan has a shit eating grin on his face. _Oh yeah. Forgot to mention that part to Wes_.

"Well... I tried to feed this bear… some eggs. …And then it mauled me." Giorgio answers with a straight face, side-eyeing Evan.

"Huh?" Wesley says, confused.

Evan scratches the back of his head in embarrassment and turns away to look at some decor.

Alan cackles with laughter.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **-A big thank you to June Ellie for spotting all the spilling/grammar errors x_x Why did I think I could do a quick release...**

 **-Blue Moon: The version by Frank Sinatra is my favourite~ It's very 'old world romance'.**

 **-EuroVision: An international singing competition. I gave up on it because the 'Russian Grannies' never won.**

 **-Masseto: A Tuscan merlot wine that has been aged in French oak barrels. It averages 600 Euros in pricing…**


	7. Out of the Blue

**Out of the Blue**

 **[DAY 24]**

Evan had gotten up in the middle of the night for some water and found Giorgio curled up between the legs of the study table in the open living room.

' _I still get those night terrors.'_

Evan being Evan, he decided to lie down next to his partner on the floor. As much as he wanted to, he didn't pry, but he still wanted to be nearby. His own show of moral support. They lay in silence there for a while side by side.

Giorgio shifts. "...Evan?"

They share small talk about nothing in particular. After a while, Giorgio builds up his nerves and tells Evan the details of the tragedy he endured nineteen years ago.

He gave a long, tired sigh. "It was so long ago. I'll always miss my birth family, but I've accepted that they've been gone for a long time now. So why the hell does that dream keep haunting me?"

After some reluctance from the other, Evan persuades Giorgio to see the base's psychologist. "It's okay! Think of it like going to the doctor's, but for your head instead of your body. If you're scared I can even come with you." He teases.

Giorgio scoffs. But decided he would.

* * *

 **[DAY 25]**

"So, how'd the first session go?" Evan asks his partner as they traverse a quiet hallway together.

"Not too bad, actually." Giorgio answers. It was actually a lot easier to tell the psychologist all the details since he had told Evan the night before. "Oh, and one more thing." He says in a low voice. "Don't tell _anyone_ ok? Even Wesley and Alan don't know about my 'humble roots _.'_ "

"Promise!" Evan says, holding up and flexing his pinky finger with a grin.

Giorgio shakes it with his own pinky after a moment of confusion. "You are such a kid."

"Quoi?! [What?!] Not this again! I'm only four years younger than you!"

"Yeah, a kid." He scoffs.

"Oh yeah? If I'm a kid— that makes you an old fart!"

"I— What?! Take that back, I'm not even thirty yet!"

"Oof. I don't know, it's getting _really_ close."

They both silently shoot glares at each other as they walk side by side.

Giorgio clicks his tongue turning his head away. "...Anyway I'm going to make myself a latte in the break room... You'll be happy to know that the coffee machine also has a _babyccino_ option _just for you._ "

The two explode back into bickering with each other.

* * *

The pair begrudgingly drink their coffees with each other. Evan had made himself a bitter long black that he didn't enjoy at all, just to prove a point.

Afterwards, they attend a small compulsory seminar in a meeting room. It's about the political situation of Astigos and Lukano.

The elderly sociology professor, although the best in his field, is quite dry with his lectures. After not even half an hour, Evan's attention span starts waning.

"Now due to the nullification of a non-aggression treaty… and this impacts the socioeconomic status of the current government as it… boring politics stuff… long words put together… marp marp marp marp marp."

Evan cannot remember the last time he was this bored. Maybe at his cousin's fifth wedding?

Giorgio blinks his eyes really hard to stop them from glazing over, and resumes on focusing on the old man who really needs to get to his key points faster. After a while, he feels a light tug on a lock of hair behind him.

 _Merde alors [Holy shit] this meeting is boring_. Evan twirls a lock of the wavy brown hair in front of him around a finger before releasing it. The hair uncoils and springs up. _Oh my god. This is fun._

Giorgio rolls his eyes when he realises how his partner has decided to play, but he allows it.

* * *

 **[DAY 26]**

There is a late afternoon briefing for a fair amount of the European Division's field agents.

After the senior agent in charge of the briefing leaves, agents begin filing out of the room. Santiago blocks Giorgio's path, before he too can leave.

"I knew there was something _off_ with you." He snarls.

"What? You can sense that I'm not a morning person? Aren't you late to the party." Giorgio deadpanned, unamused that at how unrelentingly annoying the other man has proven himself.

Suddenly the antagonistic agent turns around to the surrounding agents and loudly announces. "Look! Everyone! The VSSE celebrates having criminals in its ranks!"

"What the hell are you blathering abou—"

"The fucking _Sicilian Mafia_! Is where our esteemed Agent Bruno hails from."

Giorgio freezes, eyes wide.

Santiago turns around to lock eyes with him, knowing smirk on his face.

Giorgio shakes his head slowly at him and mouths. "Don't do this." _How does he know?_

Snickering, the other agent turns around again. "Yes, THAT Bruno Family. Powerful, ruthless! Had it not wiped itself out, we'd have ourselves a Mafioso instead of an agent!"

His breaths have become quick, and while he strains to maintain a calm facade, Giorgio is frozen in place as he feels as though everyone's stares are condemning him.

"What?! Not going to deny your ties? Not even a witty comeback? Come on now! You're so famous for them!" He goads.

His mouth slightly apart, Giorgio's thoughts are too scattered to say something, anything. All he can do is hear the whispers in the room and the heart beat thump in his chest.

Evan trudges up to Santiago, and the Spaniard doesn't notice until he has come close.

"Bonjour!" Evan waves his hand with a smile. He smashes his fist square on the other man's nose making him fall back and land roughly on his backside.

"Santiago!" Rúben screams as he runs to his bleeding partner.

Evan ignores him and takes Giorgio by the wrist to guide him out of the room, away from all the judging eyes.

* * *

Evan sits Giorgio on the couch back at their suite. Holding his partner's shoulders firmly, he looks straight into his hazel eyes. "I swear to you, I did _not_ tell anyone."

Giorgio opens his mouth to talk, but no sound comes out.

"Stay here. I'm going to go sort things out." Evan says as he quickly leaves the room. _Shit. He hates me now._

* * *

The door to Dr Fine's office flings open harshly.

The psychiatrist and her patient jump in surprise.

"What on earth—"

"Get out." Evan growls at the agent.

"I have a session right now for my fear of robo—"

"Get out now. Before I give you PTSD so bad your grandkids will have it." The calm anger in his voice sends the other agent in the room bolting out.

"Mr Bernard?!" Fine exclaims.

"That's me!" He says flippantly.

"How dare you treat someone who has been badly traumatised with petty threats?! Explain yourself!" She asks angrily.

"Oh that is rich, lady. My partner comes to you for help, and you give his file to the biggest _dickhead_ in the VSSE to share with everyone."

"I did no such thing!" She counters.

"Well neither did I!" Evan says throwing his hands up. "But Giorgio told me about his past in confidence. And now, everyone knows, so it looks like I took a giant shit on his trust. Oh, but let's say with the off chance he does still trust me— it doesn't change the fact that I'm a massive _scumbag_ for delivering him straight into your dirty claws!"

"How dare you question my integrity with such a baseless accusation?!" She yells.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry! That's the problem. I ASSUMED you had integrity!" Evan says with a hand on his forehead mockingly. Becoming serious, he interrogates her. "Why did you give that _piece of shit_ Santiago, Giorgio's file?"

"I've. Told. You. I did not give his file to _anyone_." She hisses coldly. "It stays in this room, untouched by people who are not me. There is only the physical copy under lock and key in this room, and the electronic copy is under heavily restricted access."

Evan eyebrows un-furrow and his eyes widen with realisation. "Which means your computer needs to be hacked into if someone wanted a copy." He turns to leave. "You've told me all I needed to know, thank you."

"Wha— wait!"

Evan does not wait, and heads out the door to prove his theory.

* * *

Knocking on the door, it opens revealing the man he's looking for. "Ted. I need your help."

Evan watches over Ted's shoulder as the IT technician types scripts into his laptop.

"Ok, so I've traced it... Now to bring up the owner of the hacking device." Says Ted, amongst his fingers tapping keys.

A profile loads on his screen. [Agent Rúben Vara. Region: Portugal. European Division Rank 47.]

"Thanks Ted." Evan says, as he pats the man on the back.

"Hey! Wait… what are you going to do?" Ted asks, having noted the oddly cold expression on the other man's face. He turns around to see Evan is already gone. _Oh that can't be good._

* * *

Giorgio is still on the couch, shell shocked by what had just happened. He was still replaying the whispers he heard and the stares he felt in the briefing room. He remembered the disgusted looks he received, particularly from the other Italian agents. They would be the ones dealing with mafia activity the most after all...

After too long, he realises that there has been an urgent knocking on his door and calling of his name for some time now. So he finally moves.

* * *

Rúben walks around a corner, and lets out a surprised gasp as a hand wraps around his neck and flings him back against a wall with a thud.

" _You_." Evan's voice comes out in an icy anger towards the agent.

Rúben visibly jolts as he recovers himself. "...Agent Bernard." He says quietly.

"I didn't expect Santiago's shit-bag tendencies to have completely rubbed off on you!" Evan says as he readies a fist to swing into Rúben's face.

With a loud bang, Evan has punched a hole in the wall next to the agent's head. "Tell me why?!"

Ruben opens his eyes that he has closed. He had intended on taking the blow full on. "Because..." He says quietly, voice crackly and small. "...it's so hard. When your partner hates you with so much passion. Every time I make a mistake, he rips into me. I doubt myself, I freeze, and I make more mistakes, and he rips into me again and again."

Evan's anger falters, although he barely lets it show.

"So, I thought I'd impress him the only way a weak agent like me could. I showed him how I could hack into complex security systems… and eventually he goaded me into finding 'dirt' on Mr Bruno. I didn't know he planned on telling everyone." Dark, regret-filled eyes look up to meet Evan's with sincerity. "I am so sorry. I deserve all the pain you need to inflict on me, so go ahead."

Evan advances towards Rúben. And walks past him. _So you just wanted your partner to like you. Huh. You're just like me._ He thought bitterly.

It wasn't fair. It took forever for Giorgio to acknowledge him and they had finally obtained a friendship of sorts. But with this, His partner would hate him forever for the new suffering he'd have to endure with everyone learning his mafia roots.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

And then, he decided. If his partnership was going to go down in flames, he'd take Santiago down with him.

* * *

Evan has finally tracked down Santiago to the infirmary. Evan had heard from some other agents, that his earlier punch had broken his nose. _And now, for every single other bone._ He marches forward like a predator which has caught the smell of prey.

"Evan. Stop."

Sneakers screech across the floor and he turns around. "Giorgio..."

"Ted told me that you were in a 'violent mood'. Figured you'd be where Santiago was, after I saw that Agent Vara was unscathed." He gives a small shrug. "What are you planning to do?"

"I'm going to break blabbermouth's jaw. And when I'm done, it'll be every other bone in his body." The blonde answers with a cold confidence.

"If you do that, you'll be dishonourably discharged at best. So don't."

"But what about you?!" Evan yelled, anger still raw in his veins.

"I'll do what I do best. Survive." Giorgio walks away, and stops to wait for his partner to follow. "Come on Evan. Let's go home."

* * *

Both men are lying on the carpet floor of the suite, exhausted by all the drama of the day.

"You… I didn't think you'd even talk to me again…" Evan said, staring at the ceiling.

Giorgio shook his head gently. "I don't blame you for what happened. Sorry I didn't say anything to you earlier. I know Santiago is a dickhead and all, but he manages to outdo himself _every time_ , and it left me in shock." After they share a chuckle, he continues. "I'm actually… going to see Dr Fine next week too. I think it helped a little the first time, and I am more than ready to heal."

Evan turned his head, involuntarily smiling a little at the news. He closed his mouth and the smile fell, when he thought of Santiago escaping the 'justice beating' he was about to give him. "So that's it? He wins? Bad guy gets away?" He asks dejectedly.

"Life _isn't_ fair, Evan. That's why we need to be strong enough to endure it. And hey—" Giorgio turned his head to face him. "—we'll be twice as strong together."

 _What are you doing Evan? You're meant to be cheering him up, not the other way around._ Evan opens his mouth to say something, but closes it as he thinks of an idea. He gets up and playfully drags his partner a short distance across the carpet. "Wait, here. I've got just the thing!" He says as he leans his partner against the couch bottom.

Too surprised to protest at being manhandled, Giorgio decides to humour his partner and patiently wait on the floor, only stretching to turn on a nearby lamp.

After hearing some fumbling and clinking around the partial darkness, Evan returns. He has a large glass bottle in one hand, two wine glasses in the other, and a grin on his face.

* * *

"Mmm." Giorgio purrs, sipping more of the golden drink. "What is this? It's sweet and quite fragrant."

"Mead!" Evan beams with pride. "Think of it as a cider, but made with honey instead of apples. In France, it is said that mead was traditionally drunk after weddings, so that's why the event after is called a honeymoon." He winks.

"So this is what you were... holding the other day." Giorgio recalls, speech starting to slow. Due to its sweetness, it was very easy to drink quickly. "We've gone about sixty percent down the bottle... think we can finish it?"

"Ahh but mon ami [my friend], if you remember." Evan holds up a full bottle, grinning. "I was holding two bottles that day."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **-** **Chouchen: Alcohol made from buckwheat honey, popular in Brittany, France. Apple juice is added in this version of mead.**

 **-Honeymoon: In medieval times, the bride and groom were given enough mead to last a month! Woo lucky!**


	8. Blue Around the Gills

**Blue Around the Gills**

 **[DAY 25]**

'WAA WAA WAA WAA'

"Stai zitto o ammalato. [Shut up or I'll kill you.]" He slurs to the alarm coming from the bedroom. Then he jolts, becoming fully awake. The alarm! He begrudgingly opens his eyes and sees Evan's upside-down sleeping face in front of him. _Huh?_

Giorgio had fallen asleep side-on in a sitting position at the couch's bottom, resting his head on a seat cushion. His partner, had more luckily, made it onto the couch mostly with just his feet and one arm dangling off.

He makes an annoyed face, as Giorgio shakes his shoulder to wake him. "Non… just give me… five… five more hours."

"Evan! We need to get ready! There's a graded team exercise this afternoon." The generally more responsible one ushers.

The blonde moves his lead-heavy head to look at the clock on the wall. "We have plenty of time… the grading is at 2pm… shit… why the hell is it 1:30."

* * *

While half an hour sounded like a decent amount of time to prepare, it was not when hangovers were involved.

"Oh my god... I don't think I've ever been this wasted." Giorgio comments, strain evident in his voice.

"I feel you, partner." Evan said woozily, with his poor head pounding like a SWAT team trying to break down a door.

The duo sported matching eye bags and were hardly as well presented as they normally were. Evan's pale skin in particular, contrasted very noticeably with the dark circles and his even darker eyelids.

Having spent a good portion of the morning and afternoon sleeping in, they had dressed themselves in a hurry and ran until they were comfortably close enough to the training grounds with a little time to spare.

Evan's hair was impossibly fluffier than it normally was, and there was a cowlick at his fringe of all places. It had also taken him a stupidly long time just to get into his jumpsuit in the morning. After going for the zip however, he had realised that it was _inside out_ somehow and had to struggle back out of it in pure despair.

Giorgio's hair was mostly tussled everywhere, his collared shirt was lopsided, and the holsters around his chest and thigh were badly done up.

Alan and Wesley greet them happily, though they are curious at the condition of their younger counterparts.

"Hey guys!" Alan chirps, far too loudly for the pair.

Giorgio winces from his raging migraine. "Alan, Wesley. Morning."

"Yeesh. What happened to you two?" Wesley asks, noting their lack of good condition.

"We got drunk and slept together." Evan says in his second language, completely unaware how the sentence might sound to someone who wasn't there.

"WOAH WHAT?!" Alan and Wesley exclaim. It was roughly two weeks ago when their juniors were at each other's throats.

Giorgio is too hungover to spot the misunderstanding in what is also his second language. He merely chides his seniors for being loud. "Please... use your indoor voices, our heads aren't coping with mere existence right now."

"Anyway." Evan says rubbing his incredibly dark eyelids. "We have a graded team exercise very soon, we'll have to catch you guys later."

Wesley looks at Alan, eyes full of worry. "Will they be okay?"

* * *

"This is the second graded team exercise!" The Keith shouts. "As a team, you will clear moving targets in the range. Switch weapons, so that they are appropriate for your situation. Good luck!"

Günther and Sven are the first to go. The agents in the observation deck watch as the duo skilfully rotate through different weaponry to clear varying quantities of moving targets. After a little under four minutes, all the targets are cleared. A buzzer sounds and a green light on the wall lights up.

The agents exit through the door which has been green-lighted. As they enter the observation deck with all their peers, they receive an evaluation by senior agents Keith and Robert.

The monitor in the room lights up with their score, and they see that they've scored an A-ranking. Sven and Günther cheer and enthusiastically high-five each other.

After a few more pairs, it's Giorgio and Evan's turn to enter the shooting range.

* * *

Alan and Wesley stand in the observation room, having been allowed access. They've come in to observe, as are worried about their friends.

"They've been training together really hard, they'll be okay right?" Alan asks Wesley. "Right?"

Wesley stays quiet as to not jinx anything.

* * *

 _We've scored an S-rank on a harder version of this exercise, this will be easy_. Thinks Evan as he and his partner ready their weapons.

The exercise starts and a target slides sideways into the range on a set of rails.

Giorgio lines up a shot and fires his handgun. The first shot rips through the target's head with an ear splitting—

' **BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!'**

Giorgio grimaces at how incredibly loud that was, hangover be damned. Hell, even Evan's soft whimper nearby is _loud_ in his ears. The sound of the one shot is ringing through their heads as they can somehow hear it echoing long after the sound has past. "Evan— bear with it. We need to score better than last time." He says through gritted teeth.

A cluster of targets come close, while targets near the back start flooding in. Evan readies a shotgun reluctantly, while Giorgio switches to his machine gun with dread filling his heart.

With the exercise in full swing they both scream as they fire at their respective targets with reckless abandon.

Up in the observation deck, Alan and Wesley wince in sympathy.

* * *

"Well, well." Says Robert, who looks bewildered at the pair who have just re-entered the observation deck. "That had _a lot_ of unnecessary screaming."

"Bullets were largely off-mark vital areas." Keith adds. "Although, you did _eventually_ remove all the targets."

"Accuracy was low, bullet use was high. Time was surprisingly the only good thing." Robert mutters as he clicks on his laptop.

Giorgio and Evan shoot each other nervous glances. Another E-rank score would cripple their chances for a passing team grading at the end of the month.

Alan and Wesley are tense as they wait for their friends' score to be revealed.

Keith hits a button on his laptop and their score is displayed on the screen.

 **[Area Cleared: Score D-Rank]**

Giorgio and Evan turn their heads to look at each other.

"We…" Trails Evan. "We scored a 'D'."

As it registers to Giorgio, he brings his hands up. "We scored a 'D'!" He proclaims proudly.

"What." Says Robert flatly.

"We scored a D!" Evan cheers, as he squeezes his partner in a tight hug.

Keith has an eyebrow raised at the celebratory pair. "What the fu—"

"Ha ha ha!" Evan laughs, as he picks his partner up off the ground and spins him around happily.

After the shock has left Alan, he whispers to Wesley. "Guess they were that excited to get the D again, huh?"

"HA!" Wesley laughs loudly.

Keith and Robert are a mixture of confused and angry that a 'D' was being treated as a much, much higher score.

"A 'D' is a terrible score! Stop celebrating!"

* * *

 **[DAY 26]**

Evan looks at his face in the bathroom mirror, feeling very refreshed and recovered from the hangover the day before.

' _Somehow, you look really manly today.'_ Giorgio had told him after their small victory. The only difference from when Giorgio had said that to him, to any other day, was that he had dark circles around his eyes?

Well, with his youthful face and playful nature, he did have a childish aura at times. The dark skin around his eyes from his inadequate sleep had given him a few years to his appearance it seems.

 _Well, even if it makes me look only a little older…_ He thought, as he applied the eyeshadow to his eyelids. _Guess I'll have to wake up half an hour earlier than him for the rest of my life._

* * *

They are heading to another supplementary lesson, apparently a D-ranking was 'too low to be satisfactory' or something.

Giorgio spots Agent D'Amato. He had shared case files with him before. This was a few weeks back when the agent stationed in Florence had come to Giorgio's territory of Milan to hunt down an escaping target.

"Buon giorno, Agent D'Amato." Giorgio greets, with a wave.

"..." The other man continues walking forward, mouth in a firm line.

Giorgio is confused at the lack of response until the other man roughly shoves past him, bumping into his shoulder as he storms right by. _Ah, right. The mafia thing. I totally forgot about that._

"Hey! Watch it!" Evan growls with a frown.

Giorgio holds him back by the shoulder calmly. "I'm not so fragile, let's just go ok?" Although that's what he says, he does notice the looks he gets as they traverse the halls.

Not long after, he hears a dreaded laugh. It's Santiago again.

"I hope you're not too upset that the other Italian agents don't pay their respects to you, _'Godfather'_." He jeers at Giorgio.

Giorgio gives him an unreadable expression.

Evan calmly walks closer to the man, and raises his fist suddenly.

Santiago jerks at the sudden movement, body still remembering what caused his broken nose.

"Hmph. Flinched like a little bitch." Evan says as he turns on his heel to re-join his partner.

"You fucking—" Santiago starts, as he steps forward.

Evan stops and turns to face him again, with an eerily calm expression on his face. It's far too calm for someone like Evan— he's waiting.

After Santiago glares at the blonde for a while, he turns and leaves, muttering curses under his breath.

"Tsk." Evan clicks his tongue, annoyed that the jerk didn't take the bait and throw the first punch.

"Really, you are so cheeky." Giorgio says knowingly. Evan was on thin ice for their first fight together over the egg, and then for breaking the Spaniard's nose just days before. It was a smart move to wait for the other man to 'start' the fight.

"I would have wrecked him in seconds." Evan says, eyebrows furrowed as they continue walking.

"I know. He knows too, so that's why he backed off. Smartest thing he's ever done in his life." Giorgio mutters as they reach room 9-S. "Whelp, here we are again."

* * *

 **[Tchaikovsky - Valse Sentimentale]**

Evan and Giorgio perform a somber waltz, mood in sync with each other. A vast majority of the other European Division's agents they've walked past have shot Giorgio judging looks in one way or another. The reality of how his comrades will treat him from now on, has finally sunk in.

"Messieurs…" Jean says sadly. His students are dancing perfectly, and they haven't complained even once today. But he found that he greatly preferred their whining and clumsy steps to this melancholic atmosphere.

"Leave them be, Jean." Drill Sergeant Bardi says. "They will overcome this as a pair, and their bond will be stronger for it."

Jean gives him a dejected nod. They had both been updated on the pair's run-ins with Santiago and the subsequent drama which had unfolded with Giorgio's mafia heritage being revealed. While he would love to give Santiago the scolding and drilling of his lifetime, in reality, it would not undo the damage done.

However, he was thankful that Evan was only given a slap on the wrist for breaking that prick's nose. An equilibrium of sorts, had been performed at the very least.

Evan has Giorgio in a comforting embrace, and Giorgio leans against the support of his partner as they perform the graceful twists and turns of the waltz across the floor. After the song ends, they gently break away.

Their eyes are locked, until they hear applause.

"Wunderbar! Wunderbar!" Günther exclaims, as he and Sven clap enthusiastically.

"Oh! Günther, Sven!" Evan exclaims in surprise. They were the top performing team in this year's batch of newly partnered agents he had heard, and they had proved it in yesterday's team exercise. "Did you guys get the wrong room?"

"Not at all." Sven smiles. "In fact—"

"—WE ARE TAKING THIS CLASS!" Günther gushes in excitement.

"Get out of here while you still can guys." Giorgio says with an eyebrow raised. "This is a remedial class. We are literally being _punished_."

"Oh ho ho~ Nein, nein, nein, mein [no, no, no, my] sneaky Italian friend. You will not be keeping this secret class to yourselves any longer."

"That's right." Sven chimed in. "We did the warehouse 3C exercise, and to our surprise we saw that the only team clearing it with an S-Rank was the two of you."

"Now we know your sneaky little secret." Günther grinned. "Now we can become closer to being—"

"Don't say it." Giorgio deadpans.

"—Über agents." Günther whispers.

"There it is." Giorgio says with an amused eye roll.

"Now, time for us to grab an instructor so we can beat our rivals." Sven smiles.

"Come again?" Evan asks innocently.

"You two are our rivals." Sven repeats.

While he is touched by the sentiment. Giorgio decides to rip the band aid off and tell them now. "Look, we're really flattered by the sentiment, but you two should stay clear of me. I'm not on anyone's good side at the moment... because it's out that—"

"You come from the Sicilian mafia." Günther finished a matter-of-factly.

"You knew?" Giorgio asks with surprise in his voice.

"Dah, everyone knows." He continues in a blasé tone. "You were born in the mafia ja? But it does not erase who you _decided_ to be now."

Sven nods in agreement with a smile.

Giorgio is taken aback. "I… both of you… Thank you."

"We accept your challenge!" Evan exclaims happily. "From this day on, we're rivals!"

Günther pumps his fist into the air, as he and Sven cheer and whoop at the announcement.

"Well, well, well!" Instructor Romée says as he and Instructor Bardi join the two pairs. "If you two are to be rivals then…"

"It looks like we need a dance-off." Giovanni finishes.

"Since you two have had a head start in the waltz, we will pick a different dance!" Jean exclaims excitedly.

"Fair." Giorgio agrees.

"Let's do the rumba!" Evan exclaims.

Sven and Günther cheer in excitement.

Giorgio splutters. "NO. Let's NOT do the rumba!"

"But it's fun!" Evan protests.

"It's an overtly sexual dance with not even a quarter of the class the waltz has." He hisses. Hearing a whimper from the side, he turns his head to look at their northern European friends.

Günther and Sven are giving him kicked puppy looks, not unlike his own partner.

"Jean a little help here…" He turned to look at Jean, who was also giving him the same look. Giovanni just shrugs his shoulders, offering no help at all. "Ugghh I'm going to regret this. Fine. We'll do the rumba."

* * *

They are both sitting limply on the couch back in their suite.

Evan is staring out into space. "So that's why you didn't want to do the rumba…" He says blankly.

"Like I said… _overtly_ sexual dance." We haven't even known each other for a full month yet, but somehow our crotches had to be in contact like that. I feel so dirty." Giorgio says, with his own thousand-yard stare. "You know what? This is completely your fault! I don't know how the _hell_ you thought the rumba was some form of hip-hop."

"Uh huh." Evan agrees blankly. "Still... I can't believe Günther and Sven _won_ the dance-off."

After being catatonic for far too long, Evan flicks on the TV for them and scrolls through their movie options.

"You know how Ass-face called me the 'Godfather' earlier? I actually haven't seen that movie." Giorgio says, wishing he had the context in order to come up with a snappy come-back.

"What?! No way, it's a classic!" Evan exclaims, taken off guard. "It's so iconic, let's watch it noooow—" He catches himself, realising that the mafia-centric movie may be taken as an insensitive choice at best. "I mean, wait no, how about... Ratatouille? You'll like this way better. He cooks, you cook. Boom, done."

"Let's do it." Giorgio says, unfazed. "Let's watch The Godfather."

"... Are you sure? I don't wanna bring up any bad memories for you." Evan asks worriedly. His partner already had headaches from Santiago, the last thing he wanted to do was to give him heartache on top of that.

"I'm sure. Besides, it'll be fun to see how accurate it actually is." He says, with an amused tone.

The pair watch the iconic film together. Giorgio shares fond memories of the Bruno Villa with Evan. It was always so lively with the sheer amount of people filling it, exactly like the start of the film with the guests celebrating the Don's daughter's wedding.

Evan has fun quoting iconic lines out of one side of his mouth in a terrible replication of Brandon Marlow's accent for Don Corleone. "You come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married, and you uh ask me to do murder, for money."

Eventually, they reach the part when a movie producer shows the representative of the Corleone family his prized racehorse, while the two men discuss business dealings.

The producer refuses to do a favour for the Corleone family and insults them with racial slurs.

"What?" Giorgio asks, confused. "The _consigliere_ [family advisor] gets refused _and_ insulted, but all he does is leave? That can't be right."

Evan grins. "Oh, just you wait."

The following scene shows the next morning, when the producer wakes up in his lavish silk sheets to find they are wet with blood. As he rips the sheets off, he discovers the severed head of his dear racehorse. In horror, he screams and screams, and screams.

Giorgio laughs in surprise.

Evan joins him in a sadistic cackle. When they both calm down, he locks eyes with his partner— a glint in his mischievous blue eyes.

* * *

 **[DAY 28]**

Santiago stirs, morning light hitting his eyes.

 _What?_ He wonders why his sheets have this damp feeling.

He peels his blanket back slowly and red, thick liquid is revealed to be everywhere. THE FUCK _?!_ He rips the sheets off himself, revealing the severed head of a My Little Pony plush toy staring back at him. Cotton, spilling from its stump-neck, is completely soaked from an extensive pool of tomato sauce. "AHHHHHHH! AHHHHH! AHHHHHHH!"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **-Consigliere: The Don's right hand man they have a high position in the family. An advisor to the Don, who also resolves internal disputes when they arise.**

 **-Lili, I worked in the eyeshadow lol.**


	9. Red and Blue

**Red and Blue**

 **[DAY 30]**

"Mr Bruno, you said that you were in therapy for the loss of your family." Dr Fine says, looking down at her notes.

Giorgio exhaled. "Yes. I went for a few months after it... happened."

"Why did you stop?"

"I overheard him on the phone one day." Giorgio answers, while furrowing his eyebrows at the ceiling. "Giuseppe was on the phone with someone. I'll never forget him saying that he was thinking of giving me away to someone else."

"What happened after?" She asks.

"From then on, I lied. I said, 'Papa, I don't get nightmares anymore, because I'm all better now.'" He didn't toss me aside like he was planning to, and we lived _happily ever after_."

"I think we've made a breakthrough." Dr Fine says, closing the book she was scribbling notes in. "I believe you are correct when you say you are no longer suffering from the PTSD of the night you lost your family. What you actually have, is abandonment issues brought on by the fear of being left by your current family. I believe you need to obtain closure by talking to your foster father."

It hit him like one of Evan's tackles. He had hated showing any sign of weakness after that point, even going so far as to feign perfect health whenever he was sick as a child. Giorgio was stunned at the revelation and tries not to splutter. "Pft, well I'm an adult now. It doesn't matter."

The doctor shook her head with a small, sympathetic smile. "That's not what you grew up thinking, and that's not what you're thinking now. Whether you are right or wrong about him wanting to leave you, it's something you need to find out for yourself. That way, you can make peace with it."

* * *

Giorgio stood in the kitchen, statuesque as he stares at the uncut tomatoes on his chopping board.

"Giiooorgio. Giorgio! Hey!" Evan's calls elicit no response. Evan nudges his catatonic partner with his body. "Hey~ everything okay in there?"

As Giorgio is lightly bumped to the side, his environment is registering to his senses again. "Oh Evan, did you say something?"

"Oh, nothing at all— for the past eight minutes."

"Ah. My bad. What did you need?"

"I need…" Evan says, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully as he taps his mouth with his index finger. "To know what that tomato did to traumatize you so badly, that you were essentially in a standing coma."

"I— it—" Giorgio sighs. "Okay. Since we became friends, at the end of every month, Richard exchanges his homemade jam for my spicy pasta sauce."

Evan tilts his head. Something he typically does to trigger a continued explanation from others.

However, Giorgio bites his lip and looks away, uncomfortable in sharing his feelings of vulnerability.

"Okay, I understand." Evan says, as he reaches into his jacket. He pulls out his handgun with his left hand and aims it at a tomato sitting on the chopping board. "Giorgio might think you're too beautiful to dice up, but I will blow your fucking brains out so he can make his delicious sauce." With a thumb, he clicks the gun's safety off.

"EVAN NON!" Giorgio screams, grabbing his partner's wrist. With a sigh, he relents and continues explaining. "So… with everyone finding out about my mafia roots, I don't know if there is still a swap on with Richard and me… Honestly, I've been avoiding Wesley and Alan as well. I don't think they know yet."

Evan holsters his gun and puts his hands on Giorgio's shoulders. "Hey, look at me. Günther and Sven get it. If any one of the other guys decides to judge you based off where you come from rather than who you are, then joke's on him. He's the shit person who doesn't deserve your friendship— not the other way around.

Giorgio looks Evan in the eyes, largely comforted by his words. His thoughts flicker to his foster father Giuseppe for an instant. "Evan, thank you for that… and thank you even more for not shooting the tomato. That would have been such a nightmare to clean."

After a comfortable silence, Giorgio realises something. "Hey, Evan."

"Hmm? ~" His partner hums.

"Just now… you pulled out your handgun with your left. Aren't you right handed?"

Evan grins and puts his hands on his partner's hips. "I'm skilled with both my hands~" He says, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Giorgio rolls his eyes, and pushes Evan away by the face with a hand.

* * *

"YOU CABRON [FUCKER]!" An irate Santiago screams, after he spots Giorgio walking alongside Evan.

Rúben winces, not wanting things to escalate into another broken nose for his partner.

Giorgio stops walking to shrug at the agitated man. "Hmph. Takes one to know one." _I hope I've correctly guessed what 'cabron' means._

"You bastard! I know you put that— that _thing_ in my bed two nights ago! You'll pay for this!" The Spaniard barks.

Giorgio turns to face him completely. "Will I though? I have an alibi for two nights ago. _Prove_ I did whatever you're talking about. Theoretically, if I did do it, all I did was give you what you wanted. I never even wanted any part of your _pissing_ contest in the first place. And do you know _why_?" He asks rhetorically. "Because when everyone is covered in _piss_ at the end, even the winner is a loser."

Santiago snarls, before something dawns on him. "Tomorrow. Tomorrow is the final test which determines who the strongest agents really are. We will be able to determine a winner then."

"We'll see you then." Giorgio agrees flatly. "Now do that thing I love that you do, and get out of my face."

"Not!— So fast. I propose a wager." Agent Alvaro says, before Giorgio can cut him short. "There should be actual stakes for the losing team."

Evan raises an eyebrow, while Rúben looks very worried at the possibilities.

Giorgio looks up contemplatively. "Fine. If your team is out of action first, I will cook your egg-baby which _you_ will then proceed to eat."

"No!" Rúben gasps with his eyes wide.

"Deal." Santiago says without skipping a beat.

"If my team loses first." Giorgio continues. "I'll set my six hundred euro shoes on fire."

"SIX HUNDRED?!" Evan exclaims behind him.

"I agree with these terms." Santiago says with a smirk.

After a firm handshake between the reds, both teams leave each other unscathed for now.

* * *

 **[DAY 31]**

It is the final grading for clearing newly partnered agents for fieldwork. A multitude of paired field agents from the European Division wait in the armoury room. It is attached to the battle stage which is modelled after a factory warehouse.

Giorgio leans against a wall and has closed his eyes to relax before it all begins. He cracks an eye open, to see what he has heard. A restless and pacing Evan, unable to contain his excitement.

"Huh. You really can't stay still. Go mingle, we still have a little while." He says, before closing his eyes again.

"Okay, okay. If you need me, I'll be chumming it up with Alexandre. I heard he served with the French Foreign Legion!" Evan trots off to chat with said agent, and introduces himself happily.

Alexandre flicks his eyes up and down to size up Evan. "Oh? So you're the pauvre bâtard [poor bastard] that is partnered with the criminal."

Evan looks at him blankly. "This was a mistake." He says, before leaving and heading back to Giorgio.

"Back so soon?" Giorgio asks curiously.

"Yeah... that guy was super boring."

"Ja! He is boring!" They hear a voice exclaim nearby.

"Günther! Sven!" Evan greets them with a nod.

Alexandre shoots the group a dirty look.

Sven has a condescending smile on his face. "Ja, the weaklings who fear our rivals are... boring." He announces loudly with a smirk. "Sven and I are going to defeat you two in this battle. We do not fear the strong, because _we_ are _also_ strong _._ "

"What did you say?" The Frenchman snarls.

"Oh, I know." A nearby Bosnian agent says. "You are a _pishka_ [pussy]."

"Did you just call me a coward?!" Alexandre snaps.

"Ha! He called you more than just a coward!" Someone laughs.

"Why you—!" He says, taking a step towards his new enemies.

"SAVE IT—!" Robert growls in an authoritative tone which silences the entire room. "—for the battlefield. The Director himself will be briefing you all now. Head out that door and assemble in the warehouse!"

All the agents in the room straighten up and march into the battlefield, the moment of reckoning finally upon them.

The chatty and easy going atmosphere in the armoury is nowhere to be found, instead tensions run high. Postures are straight and dignified, as agents fill the warehouse. Eyes look ahead and occasionally dart to the side, to size up soon to be targets.

"Ohohoho!" The Director of the VSSE laughs from the observation deck. "It always looks like a catwalk when there's a group of the European Division together. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the last grading of the month. Now as you know, it is in the form of a _battle royale_."

"The guns that we've given you for the exercise." The Director explains, holding up one of his own. "Are loaded with ink-filled rubber bullets. They won't kill you by any means." He shoots a bullet at a wall and it leaves a splatter of red ink on impact. "But they will still certainly still hurt."

Giorgio rolls his eyes over to see Günther smirking at him. The smile he returns looks a little venomous.

"In this battle royale." The Director continues. "Hand to hand melee combat is allowed. You may do _anything,_ short of eye-gouging or killing your opponents."

Evan gives Sven a toothy, predatory grin.

"After there is only one pair left standing, the exercise will end." States the Director as he exits the balcony into a glass viewing room.

Keith and Robert take pairs to their designated starting points in the warehouse. After they have completed their task and vacated, the Director's voice can be heard over the intercom. "Now that everyone is in starting positions… you may begin. ACTION!"

With his command, the entire room spontaneously bursts into chaos.

Pairs shoot at each other left and right. Paint splatters across shipping containers, floors, and bodies.

In a narrow passageway made of shipping containers, Giorgio and Evan have shoulders lightly pressed against each other. They scan the intersections left and right as they work to clear the area.

Gunfire sounds to Evan's left at an intersection. Giorgio shoots an agent in the chest twice, as well as the man's partner behind him in the shoulder. As his first target falls down in pain from the rubber bullets, a clear shot is given to Giorgio, and he shoots the still standing agent in her ribs.

The pair curse and grumble from the pain, and for being taken out so early.

With both hands on his gun, Evan takes out a pair that has run in front of him at the end of the narrow passage they are clearing.

"There are targets in this junction!" Shouts a familiar voice on the right side of the end of the passage.

In recognition of who it belongs to, Evan charges forward in time to meet the figure who has burst out of the corner. Using his momentum he slams a left hook into Alexandre's jaw, knocking him out cold. He flows with the direction of the punch, putting both hands on his gun again and shoots Alexandre's partner who is in taken by surprise in the right of the T-junction.

Out in the conveyor belt area, Santiago has just finished dispatching a pair of agents, before Giorgio marks him and shoots.

Only to hit Rúben who has offered his body as a shield.

Santiago looks in shock as his partner's body spasms with the force of being hit with the rubber bullets, red ink covering his clothes like mock-blood stains as he falls to the ground. Recovering quickly enough, Santiago grimaces as he lines a shot up at Giorgio's heart.

Only to be viciously tackled to the ground from his blind spot. He coughs as Evan carelessly gets off him, stepping on his chest with a foot before shooting him in the ribs.

"Yeah." Giorgio says nonchalantly at the tackle. "He _does_ that."

Santiago grimaces. "Why you—!"

Evan shoots Santiago in the ribs again. He then shoots him a few more times. Feeling delighted by the sensation, he shoots him several times yet again.

"Evan!" Giorgio chides. "Save your bullets, or we'll run low!"

"Worth it!" Evan chirps happily, as they both rush to engage more enemies.

"Uggghhhh." Santiago groans on the floor, as he clutches his poor, abused mid-section which is soaking wet with blue ink.

* * *

The pair have now reached a much more open space. Multitudes of agents are using factory equipment and corners of shipping containers as cover.

Using a crate as cover, the pair gun down a couple of agents, ducking out of the way to avoid incoming fire.

Giorgio suddenly narrows his eyes, and leans his shoulder down against their crate to give it a push. With some effort, it does slide forward. He looks up at Evan. "Are you ready to be a action-cop hero?"

As Giorgio is low behind the crate pushing it forward, Evan has both their guns in his hands. He fires at agents in front who are in his range, while using Giorgio's gun in his left hand to take down any agents who are occupying any of the passages their crate slides past.

Evan ducks behind the crate as red and blue bullets splatter the cover. He tosses a gun to Giorgio who wordlessly ejects the now empty ammo clip and slides in a new one in before tossing it back to him.

Evan catches it and smirks, having finished reloaded the one in his other hand as well. After there is a brief pause in enemy fire, he gets back up and continues mowing down targets as Giorgio resumes moving their cover forward.

* * *

All there is left of the area are agents on the ground clutching their torsos and ribs. Before they can leave the area to find more targets, Günther and Sven appear.

"Well, well, well." Says Giorgio. "Looks like you weren't all _talk_ when you said that you were both strong like us."

"No." Smiles Sven. "We're both definitely very strong— see for yourself!" He exclaims, whipping out his gun to fire at the pair.

The battle is just as fierce as it is evenly matched. It seemed for every bullet the pair dodged, their own missed their marks.

Evan is the first to run out of bullets. He hurls his handgun at Sven's head, who after sidestepping the unconventional projectile, is met with a whip kick aimed at his head.

Günther has finally run out of bullets, he slides to safety around a corner. Giorgio's gun sings loud clicks as he pulls the trigger, alerting them that he too is also out of bullets.

Recognising the sound, Günther charges out of cover to engage Giorgio in a melee.

As his rival comes hurtling closer, Giorgio fishes a bullet hiding in his jacket pocket and loads it into his clip. The German agent throws a lunging punch at his head, just as Giorgio slides the loaded clip back into his pistol.

Giorgio falls backwards on the ground, only narrowly avoiding the punch. Propped steady with an elbow resting behind him, he points his gun at Günther's heart and pulls the trigger.

"You sneaky Italian." Günther says with a laugh.

With a bang, red ink splatters across the German's chest and the room is silent for a second. A buzzer sounds as a green light on the wall lights up.

* * *

Giorgio and Evan are heartily congratulated by their rivals as the winning team, as all the teams are gathered and debriefed.

"Congratulations." Keith says, trying not to smile too proudly. "You both clear this exercise with an S-rank."

"Now after you hand in your egg assignment together—" Robert adds. "—your overall score gives you a final B-rank score, passing you for active duty."

"Wait!" Günther exclaims suddenly. "We ver not allowed to eat our eggs?!"

"Günther no!" Evan exclaims in horror.

"But it is food." Sven states in their defence.

"But _why_ would you eat your own BABY?" Keith sighs, facepalming himself.

Robert massages his temples. "What kind of monster would even _try_ to eat their own child?"

Giorgio sheepishly turns around to avoid the pointed look Evan is giving him.

* * *

After all the agents are dismissed, Santiago has found the pair. "Giorgio! About the wager, please…" He says, coughing as he holds his fairly bruised ribs.

Giorgio narrows his eyes at him. "You made a deal with the devil. You can't just say 'no thanks' after you lose."

"I accept my loss. But please, let me change the punishment. You will enjoy it more."

"Oh? How so?" Giorgio asks, intrigued at the other man's begging.

"You've always found my shoes a little ugly—"

"Incredibly hideous."

"Right. I will light them on fire right now, in place of sacrificing our team egg." Santiago proposes.

Giorgio smiles. "I do so hate your shoes, but why the sudden change?"

"I didn't realise it at first. But you didn't offer your own egg as a sacrifice, because it meant something to your partner." Santiago says, briefly looking at Rúben with regret. "So you were man enough to offer your own overpriced shoes for the bet."

 _But they were on sale._ Giorgio thinks to himself. "Yes. I'm genuinely dreading the day when that egg reaches its expiry date."

"EGGS EXPIRE?!" Evan exclaims in horror behind him.

"Fine." Giorgio agrees. "You may offer your shoes instead of your egg. We should be able to find some flammable liquid in the armoury."

Santiago nods thoughtfully. "After all of that— you will not even ask why?" He asks.

"Ask why you've been after me since the start of the month, I take it."

"Yes." He says, uncharacteristically softly.

"Well then, get it off your chest. I'm all ears."

Santiago laughs, but it sounds hollow. "I never liked you to begin with, I was ranked third in the European Division, in an organisation which only recruited the best of the best across the world. But I never got so much as a nod from you, I was probably never even reflected in your eyes."

Giorgio looked at the man sternly. "Look, don't take this the wrong way— but that's how I treat _everyone_."

"Hmph. What you claim, yet you are friends with the strongest in the American Division and the _Ace_ himself. But that's not all." The Spaniard continues.

"Ho boy, there's more."

"Yes there is. Santiago nods. "You took it."

Giorgio is confused. "Took what?"

"You took my ranking at the start of the month."

"Your ranking? You mean…" Giorgio says, remembering that ranks change at the start of every year. _Oh. So that's what he meant by 'was' ranked third._

"Yes, you are ranked third overall in the European Division now. After my trusted old partner was retired, I was given a struggling rookie to re-partner with, while you… You were given the most _promising_ rookie in the division. This was the final slap in the face."

Giorgio softens his tone to explain his side of things. "Santiago, I'm not friends with the strongest because they're strong. I'm friends with them because I _like_ them. As a rookie, my Final Day battle was against Alan and Wesley. And Richard is a foodie. One day, after he caught me in the hallway with my groceries, we became friends."

"You didn't seek them out because they were strong…" Santiago realised, in an epiphany of sorts.

"No. More like them finding me, which I am eternally grateful for. And this guy—" Giorgio motions to Evan behind him. "—was paired with me, because it says on my report 'Does not play well with others.' They literally paired me with the 'blue' with the biggest balls they could find, because I've scared all the other compatible ones away. So you know what? You're right, I am a dick. But no, I don't get preferential treatment, and I don't give it out either."

Santiago chuckles, exasperated and amused, somehow. All the stress of a perceived slight and his own fixation on being strong. It had gotten to his head, and boiled over into anger to be taken out on a fellow agent and his own partner.

He starts taking off his shoes.

Giorgio eyes him for a second. "Santiago, don't bother. I'm in a good mood at the moment so you can forge-"

The Spaniard puts up a hand to hush him as he continues to take them off. "No. It is alright. I am a man of my word. Also, an apology for giving you grief for an entire month."

After they are off, he takes a lighter out and breaks the top to pour the fluid over his shoes. He shoots the concrete ground and the sparks ignite the fuel.

They all watch the flames engulf Santiago's brogues.

"You know. Rúben's not super weak or anything, just inexperienced with such intense combat. They never would have trusted partnerless me with him." Giorgio says, shaking his head. "Someone who has been reliably partnered with, and has held a higher rank for longer on the other hand..."

Santiago scoffs with a small smile on his face. The flames flicker out, leaving molten goop in the place of his brogues.

He looks at the duo. "Agent Bruno, Agent Bernard. It was an honour to duel with you both."

"Likewise." Giorgio says. Evan nods with a grin.

Santiago starts walking away from the duo, but he pauses. "Come on Rúben, let's go home."

* * *

 _Oh man!_ Evan thinks, excitedly. _Wait until Giorgio opens the suite door. Richard has been speed-cooking for everyone~ "_ Ladies first." Evan says, as he gestures to their suite door.

Giorgio raises an amused eyebrow as he lets himself into their quiet, empty suite to finally rela—

"SURPRISE!" Alan, Wesley shout at the top of their lungs, as Keith and Robert fire party poppers into the air.

Being taken completely by surprise, Giorgio yelps and reflexively fires a warning shot above Keith and Robert's heads with a live round.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Robert yells, as he rises from off the ground.

"YOU COULD HAVE SHOT US!" Keith interjects, as he turns around to see the new bullet hole in the wall.

"Maybe DON'T surprise a field agent with something that sounds exactly like GUNFIRE!" Giorgio yells back in his defence.

With another bang, everyone falls to the ground in panic. The only one standing is Richard, who was the one to pull a party popper this time.

"FUCKING HELL RICHARD!" Robert growls, as everyone else on the floor is laughing.

* * *

 **[DAY 37]**

Giorgio and Evan head towards the Director's office to receive their first mission together. As they walk past Santiago, they give him a friendly nod.

Santiago smiles as he nods back to them in return.

* * *

When the Spaniard has returned to his suite, Rúben pushes a box into his hands.

"Look at what he got you!" The younger agent laughs.

A new pair of Italian shoes greet Santiago as he lifts the lid off the box.

* * *

The Director smiles at Giorgio and Evan. He presents the pair with matching boxes of their own. They open them to reveal matching handgun modifications. Extended clips which hold up to nine rounds and a light attachment to find targets in the dark.

"Gentlemen, I have your first mission for you."

* * *

 **[DAY 48]**

It was almost three weeks ago now. The party that their friends threw for him and Evan, for finally being cleared for partnered field work. At a point, Giorgio had quickly turned around to discreetly rub a tear out of his eye. Relieved, that his friends all chose to remain just that.

Today, he is heading to Palermo, Sicily. His hometown. While he is definitely nervous to finally ask Giuseppe about what he had feared, he isn't scared with Evan by his side.

* * *

 **[DAY 372]**

It's evening.

Giorgio walks on the beautiful marble floors of his family mansion. The finest, of course, for the most powerful mafia in all of Sicily. The entire Bruno family is mingling with their guests, delicate foods paired with the best wine in the country.

Little ten year old Giorgio has just tucked in his even tinier brother and sister. He is a wonderful big brother, the twins are warm in bed, but now it's time to let papa and mama know. He carefully closes the door so that the chatter of the guests downstairs doesn't wake up the little ones.

Giorgio walks the halls to head downstairs to the dining room where the adults are playing.

Suddenly, a little boy pops out of the corner. He has the fluffiest alabaster blonde hair and sky-blue eyes. Lots of light freckles speckle his little face. He looks maybe six or seven at the very most. "Hi! Nice to meetcha! I'm Evan Bernard."

"Bernard, huh?" Giorgio ponders out loud, noting that the child is most likely French.

The blonde wraps his arms around Giorgio and squeezes him in a hug. "Oui! Bernard! It is said we are a line descended from bears!" He laughs.

"Ah. You're so loud, really." Giorgio says. "Look Mr Bear, we can play. But we need to go downstairs okay?"

"Uh-huh." Evan whispers happily. He grabs Giorgio by the hand to hurriedly drag him down the stairs.

They find all the adults downstairs, still lavishly dressed in formal wear chatting and dining without a care. For some reason the rooms are lit by daylight flooding through the windows.

Evan leads his self-declared playmate to Giorgio's parents, Luciano and Fiore Bruno. Next to them is a young Giuseppe in his police uniform.

Fiore crouches down to talk to her child. "You are such a sweet boy, Giorgio. I'm glad you found such a good friend to play with." She says, turning to smile at Evan as well.

"I'll look after him!" Evan exclaims, giving Fiore a military salute with his little hand which isn't holding Giorgio's.

She fondly pets him on the head.

"Giorgio." Luciano says tenderly. "We are going somewhere now."

Giorgio stares up at his father, knowing the meaning behind his words. "Okay." He says softly.

"This man here, Giuseppe. He will be your famiglia [family] now." Luciano says, looking over to him.

"Mio caro [My dear]." Giuseppe says with soulful, dark eyes. "I'm sorry you thought that I was ever going to give you away. I wasn't faulting you for having night terrors, I was doubting whether _I_ was the one who was good enough to be raising you. Doubting whether I could give you even a quarter of the luxury you had— whether you would ever stop suffering your nightmares with what little help I could give you. I had my share of doubts haunt me, but I never regretted making you my family."

After teary hugs with everyone. Luciano and Fiore wave their goodbyes at the trio from the mansion door.

Giuseppe calls to his two little stragglers. "Come, my piccole uova [little eggs], hop in the car. I'll take you both somewhere grand to play."

The boys spend a long while chattering while looking at scenic hills and colourful wildflowers. Giorgio boasts that he and Giuseppe are the best at cooking. Evan brags that he makes the best mud cakes from 'a hundred percent real mud'.

Eventually, Giorgio and Evan slump against each other, asleep.

* * *

Giorgio opens his eyes. It's bright in the aeroplane now. He and Evan had slumped against each other, heads resting against each other in the comfortable airplane seats carrying only them as passengers.

His partner also stirs to look at him blearily, but somehow with his usual high amount of enthusiasm.

"Hope you're not hungry after we land. It's gonna be a long day stopping terrorists from getting that top secret weapon." Evan says with a grin.

"Oh? You could just make me one of your famous 'real-mud mud cakes' then." Giorgio smiles, as he leans against his partner again to go back to sleep.

Evan blinks at him and pauses. "Huh? I've never mentioned that since I was a kid… and I don't remember telling you _ever_." He gasps, and starts shaking Giorgio roughly to wake him up. "We— we have psychic powers!"

"Get off me you crazy kid. I want to sleep." Giorgio mumbles a bit grouchily, as he uses a hand to push Evan's face away.

"But this is important!" Evan protests. "I think we have a psychic bond!"

"Go away! I was having a nice dream and I want to go back!"

As they bicker, the aeroplane soars through blue skies to take them towards their new mission starting at California International Airport.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading! :3 I hope you've enjoyed this cop-buddy action as much as I have.**


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